Charlie And The Gun Factory
by UnyieldingEbonyDragon
Summary: Charlie might have more IRA connections than even she knows what to do with, but she's always been a club girl, and she always will be. When she's attacked right before a shit storm hits Charming, how will she help? Who will help her when she can't help herself? And to top it all off, suddenly her best friend might just be her new Old Man, and she's loving every minute of it.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is the first time I've posted anything here, I've been reading for a long time but just recently made a profile to start keeping track of what I've read and to eventually post my own works. This is a story I've been thinking about for a long time and finally decided to start working on it. I'll continue to post if anyone likes it, otherwise I'll just write for me. Also, let me know if you'd like an actual backstory instead of just flashbacks like I have planned, this is a Protector-Happy/OC and Juice/OC :) ~Dragon**

* * *

Quinn was startled awake by the shrill ringing of his prepay on the nightstand. He hurried to answer it, flipping on the lamp in the dingy little double motel room he was sharing with Happy as he did so.

"Hullo?" he growled into the little block. Quinn was NOT a morning person.

"Quinn? It's Jax, SAMCRO needs you and Happy."

"What's up Bro? Gotta be important if it couldn't wait for a decent hour, it's like 6am."

"Yeah. How fast can you be in Charming? It's about Charlie." Quinn was finally awake enough to register the worry and fear in the Mother Charter VP's voice.

"Well we were on our way to Tucson to meet up with her, didn't even know she'd left yet. We're in Phoenix now, we leave within the hour, should be in Charming by dinner time."

"Good, Church is at 7, be here." Quinn heard the line disconnect and groaned. He sat up to put his boots on and noticed Happy was already fully dressed and packing his bag.

"Back to Charming, Bro. Somethin came up and CJ's already there." Quinn told Happy, while gathering his own belongings. Hap nodded once and frowned, 'If CJ's already back in Charming, who took her, and what happened that Jax had to call him in at 6am?' he thought.

The two Sons of Anarchy Nomads packed up their bikes and headed to Northern Cali just as the sun was starting to rise behind them.

* * *

**A couple of hours later, in Charming.**

Jax walked through the Emergency Entrance at St. Thomas. He had hoped that he wouldn't have to come here through this entrance for a while, since Able had been home for a couple of months; but here he was, worried for the life of his little cousin. Juice had followed him over from his house, they had to wait for Neeta to come sit with Able before heading over. Jax was grateful that Juice was with him, even though he could have come when Unser first called them about Charlie. Anyone could see that Juice and Charlie had something special, neither one of them knew it, but everyone else did. Jax was pulled from his thoughts when he heard his brothers obnoxious behavior.

"It's too early. Why am I here?" He heard Tig complain.

"Because, shithead, Charlie's family and she's hurt." Gemma said, smacking Tig. When Gemma noticed Jax and Juice enter the waiting room, she rose quickly from her seat between Tig and Clay and rushed over to them, pulling them both into a suffocating hug only a mother could get away with.

"Tara says she's stable, but they're keeping her overnight because of bruising around her ribs and a concussion." She told them. Both men visibly relaxed.

"Can we see her?" Jax asked, glancing around the room. It seemed like most of SAMCRO was there: Tig, Clay, Bobby and Piney were laughing at the Prospect trying to juggle two trays of coffee from the cafeteria. The only people missing were Chibs, who was still healing from the van bomb; and Opie, which happened a lot since Donna was killed. Before Gemma could answer Jax, Tara came over and everyone stood to surround her.

"How is she Doc?" Gemma demanded.

"Well, there's a lot of bruising around her ribs, up her back and on her face. I cleaned and stitched up the cut on her forehead. I set and cast her left arm, it was broken clean about two inches below the elbow. She should be fine physically, but it's her mental state that has me worried. She's refusing a rape kit and is so drawn into herself that she didn't react at all when I set her arm." Tara explained. Jax and Juice's faces darkened at her words.

"Where is she? Can I see her?" Jax asked, Tara looked surprised at Jax's tone and slowly nodded.

"Yeah, she's being transported to her room now, I'll take you up. Only two at a time though, she needs to rest and the nurses will be in periodically to monitor her concussion." She said.

"Jax, you head up there, someone stay with her at all times. Juice, go check on Chibs, then you can see her. He should be awake now. The rest of us'll be at the Clubhouse." Clay said, moving to hug his stepson. Jax and Juice gave stiff nods before following Tara.

"So, I've seen her around a couple of times since I've been back, but I only noticed the crow on her wrist today. Who exactly is she?" Tara asked, once they were in the elevator. Juice nodded at Jax, letting him explain.

"She's my cousin." Jax said looking over at Tara, "She was born and raised SAMBEL, and when her mom died she came out here. That was about six years ago, she's been going to school in Tucson for the last two. She was supposed to wait for Armando to arrange an escort for her before coming back..." Jax explained, Tara nodded in understanding as she opened the door to her room for him. She was in the room right next to Chib's. "Thank you, I'll see you later?" Jax asked Tara.

"Yeah, I'll come back up before I leave." She said before shooting him a comforting smile and walking away.

Charlie looked over when the door opened and nodded at her cousin when he came in, before zoning out again. Jax sat in the chair on the right side of her bed and took her hand.

"Oh Charlie Girl, what the hell happened?" He whispered.

"I took care of it. If me arm wasn't broken, I wouldda a just gone home." She answered, her voice was emotionless and detached.

"What do you mean you 'took care of it'?" He asked her. She slowly and deliberately turned her head to make eye contact before answering.

"What do ye think I meant? I bloody well took care of it before I escaped with me dignity in tact thank you. The men that hurt me, never will again. Ye and Hap taught me well cousin." She half smiled before succumbing to the pain meds Tara had given her, and passed out. Jax shook his head in disbelief and pulled out his prepay to text Happy.

**come to St.T when you get to town, CJ's messed up, said we 'taught her well'**

Jax reread the message before sending it and not even ten minutes later got a response.

**shit be there as soon as I can, stopped for gas in Blythe.**

Jax didn't bother responding, he just put his phone away and leaned over the edge of the bed, griping her hand.

* * *

That's how Tara and Juice found them a few hours later, Jax hunched over the bed, clutching Charlie's good arm like a life line. Juice shook Jax awake and said,

"Doc needs a ride home Bro, I'll stay till Hap gets here." Jax nodded before standing, and kissing his cousin's forehead, right over her stitches. Jax hugged Juice and left with Tara. Juice took Jax's vacated chair and gently took Charlie's hand in his own, interlacing their fingers. She groggily opened her eyes and looked at him.

"What bothers me the most about you being here, isn't even that you're here CJ. What bothers me is that you were alone when you came in... Why were you alone baby?" he asked her softly, gently tracing her cheek with his knuckles.

She sighed softly before explaining, "To my knowledge, I wasn't alone. I should have just waited on Hap and Quinn, like always... but I was anxious to get back... Armando called me yesterday morning and told me Huff and Benny were free this weekend and that he could have them bring me. I agreed quickly and packed up. Everything was fine until San Diego. We got separated on the highway, but I saw Huff wave me on, so I shot him a text saying I'd pull off and wait at the next stop but before I got to the exit, he responded telling me to just go ahead, that Benny had a flat and that he'd catch up to me soon. He still hadn't caught up by the time I stopped in Stockton for gas. That's where I was ambushed. In the restroom of the little gas station right off the first exit into Stockton. They were completely blacked out, ski masks and sun glasses to match. They didn't say a word, just beat the hell out of me... even with me fightin back like ye, Hap and Jax taught me... the three of em left me there in the restroom, with me bag, and I could hear them talkin outside. Couldn't hear what they were sayin but I'm pretty sure one of em had a brogue... I can't say for certain what happened next, I'm not even sure meself. All I remember is the echo of me gun and once I'd emptied the clip, there were three dead bodies in a bloody heap. All head and neck shots, just like ye and Hap taught me Juicy." She finally paused, but was breathing harder and had started to sob.

Juice stood and carefully slid into the tiny hospital bed with her. In the six years he had known Charlie, he had never seen her like this. The SAMBEL Princess was forever supposed to be calm, cool, collected and an all around bad ass. She was NOT supposed to break down in the middle of the hospital, in his arms. It was for that exact reason that Juice held Charlie while she sobbed into his chest, rocking her and whispering soothing words in her ear until her tears finally stopped and her breathing returned to normal. She finally broke the silence, carefully moving so she could look into Juice's big brown eyes.

"Jax, Opie and Happy have been like brothers and protected me from the moment I came state side and I'll always love em; but you truly are my best friend Juicy and I love you so much." She told him, he hugged her to his side, laying them both back on her tiny hospital bed before answering,

"I love you too CJ. You've been my best friend since I put on that Prospect Cut six years ago."

They lied in a comfortable silence after that, until Juice remembered an odd detail from Charlie's story.

"Babe, where's your gun?" He whispered.

"In the boot of me car, at the bottom of the duffel I stole from ye last year." She answered quietly, sitting up to look down at him, "After I realized what happened, I shoved it back into me bag and hightailed it back to Charming. I had just crossed town borders when me adrenaline wore off and I realized me arm was broken. I called Huff, told him what happened. He said he must have stopped at the same gas station not five minutes after I left. He saw the bodies, but there were no cops yet. I stashed the gun in the duffel and came in. after I checked in, Unser came and took my statement then ripped it up and said if I brought him me gun when I get released that he'd make it disappear. I'm assumin that's when he called Jax too." Juice just nodded at her explanation and rested his head back.

"Actually, Huff called Jax. Explained everything from his side. He's really torn up about you gettin hurt babe. I'm not gonna lie to you, everyone's pretty pissed at him. He's at the clubhouse now." Juice told her. She looked confused at his revelation.

"But it's not his fault; not really... I know the rules, especially for me. I should have stopped and waited for him, or not left with them at all and just waited for Happy." She had tears in her eyes again, and both of them were so wrapped up in their conversation that they didn't hear the door.

"You're damn right you should have waited for me. What the hell were you thinkin Girl?" An angry, gruff voice demanded from the doorway. Charlie and Juice looked over as Happy shut the door behind himself and took Juice's now vacated chair.

"I'm sorry Hap, I know it was stupid. I was just anxious to get here... I needed to come home. I'm not going back to Tucson." Charlie whispered, looking at her hand, still interlaced with Juice's.

"Course you are. You gotta finish school, don't'cha?" he asked, raising his brow at Juice after glancing at their hands. Juice just shrugged it off, like always.

"I will finish. The rest of the classes I need for my degree I can take online." She assured them. Juice stroked her back as he looked into her fear filled eyes. Happy nodded at her explanation.

"I guess I'll see if Armando can spare a couple guys to pack up your apartment and move you up here when you get outta here." He said. She nodded her thanks and they all decided to leave the conversation at that for the time being. Both Happy and Juice knew there was more to her story, and they both knew they'd hear about it soon. But for now, they left it and let her make herself comfortable across Juice's chest. Soon they were all asleep.

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**Thanks for reading! Let me know how it is... I accept all forms of criticism or praise-if you deem me worthy- :)**


	2. Chapter 2

When Charlie woke up later, both Sons had left for Church; but she wasn't alone.

"Oh my sweet Angel, what'd your Da do now?" Charlie knew that voice. That voice raised her. She opened her eyes and looked into the deep brown eyes and mocha face of her Godmother-turned-Stepmother, Fiona Larkin.

"What're ye doin stateside Fi?" Charlie asked, skipping any small talk, she just wanted her gone.

"Yer Da's here on Sons Business, brought me with him." She answered, "Kerrianne is fine by the way, she's off at school." Fiona said. Charlie just smirked and stayed silent. She could almost guarantee she knew more about Kerrianne than her mother, even with an ocean and a continent separating them.

"What'd ye mean 'what'd me Da do'? Was he responsible for having me ambushed? Again." Charlie asked, venom pouring from her voice.

"Anythin is possible Lovie, ye know tha." Fiona said with a smirk of her own.

"Oh spare me the bedtime story Fi. I know the truth about me Ma and Jimmy O can screw himself. It's not like he was ever father of the year. I was with ye and Auntie Mo more often than not when he took Ma on all those business trips o' his." Charlie's voice had become distant and emotionless talking about her parents.

"Oh grow up Charlotte." Charlie's head snapped up at Fiona's statement and before she could continue, Charlie exploded.

"Fuck you Fiona! You have NO idea what it's like to be his daughter. Having constant body guards, even stateside. Having NO friends outside the IRA or the Club. You enjoy this life Fi, you thrive on kill-or-be killed situations. I don't. That's why I came to California. I refuse to be a bartering chip between the IRA and the Club. So whatever ye came for, forget it and GET OUT!" Fiona just smiled and bowed before backing out of the room,

"Of course Angel, anything for the Princess." Once the door was closed, Charlie screamed, causing Half-Sac to come barreling into the room.

"Jesus Charlie! Are you ok? Who was that? She said she's family..." He stuttered out.

"UGH!" Charlie was breathing heavily. She hated that woman. "A'm fine Kip. Technically, she is family, not that it matters much to her. She hasn't been to see Chibs, has she?"

"Uh... Well..." Sac started, Charlie held up her hand.

"Just help me over there, yeah?" She said, trying to sit up. He rushed over and helped her stand up, she slung her arm around Kip's shoulders and together they hobbled to the next room.

"Hey Charlie-Girl, heard what happened. You alrigh?" Chibs asked her when they came in.

"Aye Chibby, I'll be alrigh." She answered.

"Come 'ere Lovie." He told her, scooting over in his bed so she could sit. She made herself comfortable next to him and he wrapped his arm around her. "Get out prospect" Chibs said. Once Kip was re stationed outside the door, Charlie spoke,

"Fiona was in me room when I woke up. She said Jimmy might be behind my attack." She whispered.

"Shite... I promise ye Charlie-Girl, he'll never get near ye again." Chibs said, holding her tighter.

"I know, but I just want 'im gone." She answered. They both got lost in thought after that. Charlie couldn't help but think back to why she came to Charming in the first place.

* * *

It was a stormy night in Belfast and like usual, the young pretty 17 year old was restocking the liquor shelves in her mother's old friend's provisions shop. Maureen came in from upstairs and smiled at Charlie.

"A'll finish up down here Love, go on up and go to bed. Yer Da'll be back to get ye tomorrow." She said.

"Aye, alrigh Mo. G'nigh." Charlie said, kissing her on the cheek and heading up to Mo's apartment to go to bed. She jumped in the shower, washing her long chestnut hair and soaking up the warmth of the bathroom. She finally shut off the water and dried off, putting her warm flannel pajamas on before leaving the bathroom. Before she got to the bedroom, she heard her father's voice from the front room.

"Where is she Mo?" She heard

"She's getting ready for bed, Jimmy. Just leave her be. A'll send her home in the mornin." Maureen said.

"Like hell I will. She's with ye enough Mo, fillin her head with nonsense about family and loyalty. The only person or thing she should be loyal to is ME!" Jimmy screamed. Charlie had had enough and showed herself.

"A'll be loyal to who and whatever I feel is right, Jimmy. Ye can't control me anymore. I'm not a single minded child." She said clearly, looking into his eyes. Without warning, Jimmy reached back and slapped Charlie across the face, knocking her to the floor.

"You insolent, disrespectful little gash." He said, kicking her in the ribs.

"I may be, Da, but at least Ah don't take a mother from her child." Charlie said, coughing.

"Charlotte, jus shut it!" Mo said, trying to placate the situation.

"Get out Mo, if ye know what's good for ye." Jimmy said, his second in command, Donny, lead her downstairs. Jimmy leaned down to get in his daughter's face. "And as for ye, Princess... Ye don' wanna be me daughter anymore? A'll do to ye wha I did to tha good fer nothin Godfather o' yers." He said, standing. He started kicking her ribs again and got a few shots to her face, after the fourth shot to the ribs she passed out.

When she came to, her best friend Trinity was sitting over her, wiping the blood off of her face with a warm rag. Trinity half smiled at her,

"Ma, she's awake" Trinity hollered into the other room.

"Thank God," Mo said, coming into the room with a fresh cloth. "Ye'll be alrigh Lovie" she said, kneeling next to Trinity. Charlie tried to sit up,

"What happened Mo?" She asked

"A'm assumin Jimmy beat ye after he made Donny usher me out. He came downstairs about ten minutes later, whispered somethin to Donny and sent him up here. He watched me until Donny came back half an hour later and they left. When I came back up, ye had blood seepin from a gash on yer head and out yer mouth. Yer ribs are bruisin... and... uhm..."

"Jus spit it out Mo!" Charlie said, clutching her head.

"And ye were naked. Blood and bruises on yer legs. I cleaned ye up as best as Ah could, probably best if ye take another shower though. A'm so sorry Lovie." Mo finished. She and Trinity both had tears streaming down their faces. Charlie sighed and nodded her head.

"Help me up, yeah?" She asked, both women nodded and helped her up. "Trinny, ye think ye could sit in the bathroom with me while Ah shower? Ah dunno how long Ah can stand on me own." Trinity nodded and they headed to the bathroom.

"Jus sit here Char, A'll get ye some fresh clothes, yeah?" Trinity said turning the water on. Charlie nodded and sat on the toilet. When Trinity came back they worked together to get her clothes off and stood up under the water. Trinity waited, leaning on the sink. Charlie just stood there, letting the scalding water run over her bruised body. She poured her soap on her wash cloth and scrubbed every inch of her body that she could reach as she sobbed. "Char, Ah know yer not alrigh Love, bu if ye don' calm down yer gonna fall and Ah don' know if Ah can pick ye up." Trinity said

"A'll be alrigh Trinny. Ah need ta talk to Fi, can ye have Mo call 'er please?" Charlie said, finally back in control of her emotions.

"Let's get ye dried off and lied down first, yeah?" Trinity said, reaching into the shower to turn off the water and hand Charlie a towel. Once she was dried off, Trinity helped her get dressed and into the trundle bed in Trinity's room. Trinity went to talk to Mo and came back a few minutes later with two steaming mugs of tea. "Do ye wanna talk about anythin?" Trinity asked.

"Not really. A'd adore a fag." Charlie said, sitting up slightly to take the mug. Trinity pulled out a pack of smokes and a lighter, lighting two smokes before giving one to Charlie. After two mugs of tea and three cigarettes each, Mo, Fiona and Kerrianne came into the room. Trinity took Kerri's hand and led her back to the front room,

"Come on Love, let's put a movie on, yeah?" Trinity said. Mo and Fi sat on the bottom bed with Charlie. Fiona took Charlie's hand in her own and looked at her sympathetically.

"Get me in contact with Uncle Filip, Fiona. As fast as possible. A'm fockin done 'ere. If Ah ever see Jimmy again, A'll kill 'im meself. Tha goes for Donny too." Charlie said, her face hard as stone, but the tears leaking from her eyes gave her emotion away. Fiona took her hand back, shaking her head.

"Ah can't do tha, Lovie, if Ah reach out to Filip, Jimmy will find out." She said, Charlie laughed humorlessly.

"For once in yer life, do somethin for my well bein, Godmother, and no' yer own." Charlie said.

"For Christ's sakes, Charlotte, he'll kill me when he finds out." Fiona said, shaking her head. There was a knock at the door and Mo went to answer it. She came back a few minutes later with Kieth McGee, SAMBEL President.

"Wha happened Lovie?" He asked, stroking a finger down her cheek, "Mo wouldn' tell me, just said ye got hurt."

"McGee, Ah need ye te call SAMCRO. Ah need te get outta Belfast as fast as possible, and Filip is the only person Ah know outside Belfast." Charlie told him. He nodded, pulled out his phone and left the room. Fiona shook her head.

"If yer really leavin, Ah should go. Kerri and me shouldn' know where yer goin, just in case Jimmy finds out we were 'ere tonight." She said, standing up and walking out of the room, without looking back. Charlie just shook her head.

"Ah never thanked ye for finally tellin me abou' me Ma, Mo. Coulda gotten ye in a lo' o' trouble." Charlie said, taking Mo's hand. Mo shook her head.

"Don' worry abou it Lovie. Think of it as a mother making amends for 'er own lies and secrets." She said. Charlie raised her brow.

"What do ye mean Mo?" Charlie asked, Mo just shook her head again.

"Don' worry about it, yer headin to Charmin, A'm sure ye'll figure it out if ye keep yer eyes open." She said. She stood, grabbing the empty tea mugs as she left the room. Charlie was almost asleep when McGee came back in and sat next to her.

"What's the word Mac?" She asked

"Charmin's waitin on yer arrival, Ah didn' tell 'em who ye are or why ye needed out. Jus told 'em to ask Filip abou' ye. He won' say anythin that'd make 'em nervous abou' ye. It's on me to get ye outta 'ere though Darlin'. Any ideas?" He explained to her. She thought for a few minutes before nodding.

"It's a normal thing for me to go on holiday with Trinny. A'm sure she wouldn' mind a weekend in Dublin or even London. A'll go there with her then leave from there. If the paper trail ends a close city Jimmy won' push it. Ah can use me secret account tha Ma left in Mo's care once Trin and I get there to get a flight to California." Charlie said, as quietly as possible.

"Tha's a great idea Darlin'. A'll get it set up. A'm sure Mo'd like a weekend in Dublin, yeah?" He said, standing up. He smoothed down her hair and kissed her on the head before leaving.

"McGee," Charlie called, he turned back to her, "Thank you." He nodded to her and left.

* * *

Charlie woke up laying next to Chibs in his hospital room to a nurse touching her shoulder.

"Miss Teller, you shouldn't be in here. Doctor Knowles is on her way in to bring you your release papers. You've been in here all night. I figured it was best to just leave you."

"Thanks, where's the prospect? He can help me back over." Charlie said, sitting up.

"I'm right here Charlie." He said, stepping up to help her up.

"A'll come back once A'm discharged, Chibby, yeah?" She said, turning back to look at him.

"Aye, alrigh Lovie." He answered, nodding. Half-Sac helped Charlie back to her own room and bed. A few minutes later Tara came in and told her where to sign.

"Okay Charlie, I've also got a prescription for percocet for you, and I'll need to check your ribs every few days." Tara said. Charlie nodded.

"Alrigh Doc, thanks. Any idea when the cast can come off?" She asked.

"We'll do another x-ray in six weeks or so to make sure, but it should come off then, it's a clean break." Tara said, helping Charlie change into some comfortable pajamas and helping her into the wheel chair she'd brought in.

"Thanks again, Doc. A'm just goin to Chibs' room for now. One of the boys'll be 'ere to get me soon." Charlie said. Tara wheeled Charlie into Chibs' room and left them to wait for the rest of the guys.

* * *

**Thanks for reading guys! It really means a lot to me to hear from you. The 4 reviews I got were awesome, especially from LoveInk who has helped me so much! You ROCK!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chibs and Charlie watched TV until Juice, Jax and Happy came into the room a few hours later. Charlie was still sitting in the wheel chair next to Chibs' bed, Juice went to stand behind her, Happy leaned against the wall in front of her and Jax took the chair on the other side of Chibs' bed. Charlie turned the TV off and looked at her cousin expectantly.

"Ah know A'm in trouble Jax, Ah just want to know how much and what Ah need to do now." She said, Jax smirked at her and shook his head.

"You don't need to do nothin, Darlin. You've done plenty. Sheriff that found the bodies is a friend of the club and he'll get us the ID's by tomorrow. Juice took your piece to Unser, that's been taken care of too. All we want you to do is rest up. It's gonna be a tough few weeks for you though." Jax said, he nodded to Juice, who knelt in front of Charlie.

"I took the bags from your car into my room at the clubhouse. You need to be on lock down while Jimmy's here this week. We don't know what could happen or what he wants. It's the safest place for you, babe." He said, whispering the last part. Charlie nodded, she had figured this was coming ever since she woke up to Fiona in her room hours before.

"Aye, alrigh... Honestly, if yeh didn' lock me down, Ah wouldda done it meself..." Charlie paused, all the Sons except Chibs looked at her like she was crazy, so she continued, "Ah woke up earlier and Fiona was in me room. She'd told the prospect she was family and he let 'er in. She alluded to thinking tha Jimmy may have been involved in my attack." Charlie finished, looking down. Juice put his fingers under her chin and lifted her face to look her in the eye.

"And what do you think about it CJ? What does your gut tell you about it?" He asked her. She made eye contact with every man in the room before coming back to Juice and answering,

"It wouldn' be the firs time the bastard's tried ta kill me." She said, looking back to Chibs. Chibs tried to smile at her, but it faltered. Juice nodded, Happy stepped away from the wall and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and Jax stood, glaring at nothing.

"You will get vengeance for that Darlin. You did the right thing last time, you left the situation. This time, he won't get away with it. You and Chibs both have lost so much because of this asshole. I'm going to do everything I can to fix it." Jax said before leaving the room.

"Stay safe Kid," Happy said squeezing her shoulder before following Jax. Charlie's gaze followed them out the door before she looked back to Juice. He smiled comfortingly at her before standing up.

"Let's get you back to the clubhouse, ok?" He asked before releasing the brake on the wheel chair.

"Yeah, alrigh Juicy. Ah'll be back soon Chibby, love you." She said to her Godfather before Juice wheeled her away. There was a comfortable silence between the two friends as he wheeled her through the hospital and outside to her waiting car. He helped her stand and get into the passenger seat of her dark orange Chevy Cobalt SS. Once he was in the driver's seat, he started the car and pulled out of the hospital and towards the clubhouse. All the boys were waiting for them to get back. 'Well, all except the one I need to see.' Charlie thought to herself. As Juice helped her out of the car, she asked him about the missing brother.

"Juicy, where's Ope?" Juice squeezed her arm comfortingly before answering her with a smile.

"Home probably. He's had a really rough few weeks CJ, if you wanna see him, you'll probably have to go to his place." Juice answered. Charlie nodded and allowed him to lead her into the clubhouse where the boys were waiting on her. She smiled as they all lined up to hug her, welcome her home and offer their apologies for what happened. She took it all in stride, all she really wanted at that point was another percocet and a nap. Juice must have read the look on her face, because soon after the last of the group hugged her, he put his arm around her and lead her back to his room. He helped her lay down and get comfortable before kicking off his boots and climbing into bed next to her.

"You're gonna start having nightmares again aren't you?" He asked, once they had settled with her head on his chest and his arm around her middle. She nodded slightly,

"Probably. God willin they won get too bad." She answered before yawning. Juice just held her tighter and she slowly drifted off to sleep. Juice kissed her forehead and whispered "I'm right here CJ, you have nothing to be afraid of" and he lay there holding her while she slept.

* * *

_8 years ago_

A very tired, very sore Charlie walked off her flight. The flight from Dublin to LAX, and then LAX to San Fransisco had left her more exhausted than before. She looked around the terminal, trying to find the familiar Reaper on a leather kutte that would mean safety. After a few minutes of looking she found two of them. One was huge and buff, he had a black skull cap pulled over his long blondish hair and a long gotee. He spotted her looking at them and elbowed his fellow Son and nodded in her direction. The other one was tall, had darker skin and was balled. Charlie walked up to them nervously.  
"No need to be nervous Darlin, I'm Quinn, that's Happy, and I'm assumin you're Charlie?" The big guy asked. She nodded and smiled at the men. Quinn slung his arm around her shoulders and led her outside to two motorcycles. "You don't have any other luggage, do you?" He asked her.

"No, McGee had me pack light. All Ah have is me backpack and me purse." She said, the men nodded and Quinn took her backpack and strapped it to the back of his bike. She slung her purse's strap across her chest and waited for Happy to get on his bike before she slid on behind him and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. Once Happy was sure she was secure, they pulled out of the parking lot and rode off towards Charming. Three hours and four stops later, they pulled into the TM lot. Charlie unwrapped herself from Happy and slid off the bike. She waited for him and Quinn to lead her into the clubhouse. Quinn handed her her backpack and they started towards the clubhouse on either side of her. Chibs came out and started towards them, Charlie ran to him and he scooped her up into a hug.

"Charlie-Girl, Ah've missed you so much" he said, setting her down and brushing her hair out of her face.

"A've missed ye too Chibby" She said, grinning up at him. His grin dropped when he saw her black eye and he gently brushed his fingers down her cheek.

"Wha happened, Love?" He asked

"Ye know wha happened Chibs. Tha's why Ah came to yeh. Ah can' do it anymore." She answered. He nodded and looked away from her, to Quinn and Happy.

"Thank yeh boys." He said, they nodded and everyone went into the clubhouse. Charlie had met Clay once before, when she was very young and he had come to Belfast. He greeted her first.  
"Charlie, good to see you." He said, hugging her. She smiled at him and nodded. Clay turned to the rest of the group and pointed to them each in turn, "This is SAMCRO, Bobby, Tig, Piney, Opie, Kyle, Jax and the prospect. I'm sure you've got some things to talk about with my wife, your cousin and Chibs, so you go get settled in and Jax can take you to see Gemma in the mornin. Hap, why don't you take her back to an empty room." Clay said. Happy nodded once and led her back to a room. Once the two of them had found an empty room, Charlie turned to Happy.  
"Happy? Ah jus wanted to thank yeh... Ah can' tell yeh how much it means to me tha yeh and Quinn were able to pick me up." She said, Hap just nodded at her. He was still trying to figure this girl out. She calls out of the blue and Chibs drops everything to set up her arrival, Happy just wanted to know what's so special about this girl. Without warning, her smile fell and she started crying and hugged him. He didn't know what to do, so he slowly wrapped one arm around her back and pat her head with the other. "Ah'm sorry... Ah'm jus so scared now, all the time." She whispered, pulling back from him. He smirked down at her and replied,

"Don't worry Darlin, you're safe here. Whatever happened before, leave it there. It can't hurt you here." He said, resting his hand on her shoulder. She nodded and smiled up at him. "Get some sleep Charlie, Jax'll take you to Gemma in the morning." He said, turning to leave. She changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed.

Happy left the room and went into the room he and Quinn were using while in town. He showered and climbed into his own bed and dozed off. A few hours later, the light sleeper was woken up by screams coming from the room across the hall. He grabbed his gun and made his way into the room he had left Charlie in. She was trapped in her blanket and thrashing around screaming at someone to stop. He set his gun down on the nightstand and pulled the blanket away from her. He sat down next to her and shook her awake. "Charlie?" he whispered, she was still whimpering so he tried again, "Charlie! Wake up Girl, you're alright." She gasped and threw her arms around his neck sobbing.

"Oh god... Ah'm sorry... Ah can' stop 'em... every night... the same shite..." She sobbed into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and smoothed her hair down.

"You're safe here Darlin, it's ok." He said. She unwrapped her arms from around his neck and lay back down. "You alright now Kid?" He asked her. She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "You want me to stay?" He asked, surprising himself. This girl he hadn't even known a whole day was making him do things only his mother could. She nodded and whispered,

"Please..." He nodded and stood up to close the door. Once he had climbed into the bed next to her, she turned to him and he looked down at her. "Thanks again Happy, Ah don' know what Ah'd do without any of yeh." He nodded at her and let her drift back to sleep. Happy didn't go back to sleep that night, he just lay next to her, watching for any signs that she'd wake up again. He promised himself, laying in bed with this girl, that nothing bad would happen to her again, he'd take a bullet for her if he had to. No woman deserved what she's obviously been through, and come hell or high water, this girl would be happy and safe as long as he lived.

The next morning, Jax knocked on the door and poked his head in, brow raising when he saw Happy in his cousin's bed. Happy got up, grabbed his gun and followed Jax into the hallway.

"She woke me up screaming last night, nightmares. I woke her up and we talked for a few minutes. She asked me to stay. She's really messed up Bro." Happy said. Jax nodded.

"Yeah, thanks Bro. I'm gonna take her to Ma's today." Jax said. Happy nodded and went into his own room. Jax went into Charlie's room, she was sitting up now, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"So you're me cousin then?" She asked, standing up and rummaging through her backpack for her jeans and a sweater.

"Yeah, I guess so." Jax said, "You look a lot like your mom. What I remember of her anyways."

"I get tha a lot, but thanks. She was a beautiful woman." Charlie said, smiling. Charlie went into the attached bathroom and took a quick shower before getting dressed and coming out. She slipped her skate shoes on and followed Jax out to his bike. Chibs and Happy followed them to the row of bikes and Happy handed her an extra helmet. She put it on and climbed on behind him and the four of them went to Gemma's house. The Queen of SAMCRO met them on the porch. She hugged Charlie and brought them all inside.

"I'm afraid I don't have any tea Sweetheart, but coffee's just as good if you want some." Gemma said, smiling at her niece. Charlie smiled politely and nodded her thanks. "You know, contrary to popular belief, I really did love your mother. She was one of my best friends from the time I met your uncle until she went to Ireland with him." Gemma said.

"Aye, Ah have pictures Ah found of the three of yeh and the others of the firs nine." Charlie said. Gemma smiled at that,

"I'd like to see those some time." She said. "Now, tell us what happened Sweetheart, why did you have to escape, and why'd you come here?" Gemma asked. Charlie spent the next few hours explaining her life in Belfast to her godfather, aunt, cousin and Happy. Chibs knew about most of what she said, but the others looked appalled. When she got to the actual reasons she left, her voice had lost all emotion.

"...then Ah passed out and don' really know for sure what happen' next. From wha Mo says, he sent Donny upstairs... You can imagine wha happen and yeh'd probably be right..." She finished. Gemma looked close to tears, Chibs and Happy were murderous and Jax was just stunned.

"Well, you're here now Sweetheart, and we'll take care of you. Nothing like that is going to happen here." Gemma said, standing up to refill everyone's coffee mugs. "Where is she going to be staying?" She asked Chibs and Jax.

"At the clubhouse for now. We'll find something close soon, I've got Juice on it already." Jax answered. Gemma nodded and the boys stood. "You stay close to Ma for now, Charlie, we've got some club shit to handle." he said. Charlie stood up and hugged her cousin and godfather before they left. She turned to Happy and smiled.

"No worries Darlin, we'll handle everything. You just do like Jax said and stay with Gemma. She'll take care of you." Happy told her, squeezing her shoulder. "Stay safe Kid." He said, turning to Gemma. "The prospect'll be here soon, don't go anywhere without him." Happy said to Gemma before leaving.

* * *

_Present_

Juice woke up to a thrashing Charlie. He sat up and pulled her into his chest. "CJ, baby, wake up" He whispered to her. She startled awake.

"Juicy? Oh god... Ah'm sorry." She started crying again.

"Shh, no baby, don't apologize. You're alright, I'm here, you're safe." He whispered, stroking her back. He finally got her calmed down enough to go back to sleep. As he held her, he thought of all the reasons she was his best friend, and he decided that maybe there was some truth to what the guys and Gemma tease them about. Just maybe, Juice had fallen for his best friend.

* * *

**Thanks for all the great reviews guys! You're all amazing! I know the present story is going a bit slow, but I wanna get in all the back story too, without revealing everything all at once. There are some obvious twists that I've alluded to, but there are a couple that I think could be surprising... Hopefully lol. Thanks again guys! -Shell**


	4. Chapter 4

**So, I realized that I messed up a bit... Let's just pretend that Juice got out of the hospital from his jail-yard stabbing BEFORE Chibs, not after lol My bad guys...**

* * *

A few days later, Chibs was due to come home from St. Thomas. Charlie was sitting on the table outside the clubhouse waiting with Juice.

"What's taking so long? They should have been back by now." Charlie complained, resting her head on Juice's shoulder.

"I dunno babe, I'm sure they'll be here soon." He said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"Get a room you two!" Tig yelled at them from the garage, making them jump apart.

"Ya know, you two could just admit that you're in love, then you wouldn't have to jump like that." Gemma said from the clubhouse doorway. Charlie's face had turned a lovely shade of red at this point and Juice was smirking at the ground. Gemma shook her head at the two youngest adults in her family. 'They'll get it eventually' She thought and headed to her office.

About ten minutes later, the van and a couple of bikes pulled onto the lot. Charlie jumped off the picnic table and ran to Chibs. He pulled her in close.

"Stay close Sweetheart, I saw Jimmy today. Don' go anywhere withou' an escort." He whispered to her. She pulled away and nodded, seeing the fear etched into his features. They separated, pulling themselves together. "Ah go' some club shite to handle Love." Chibs said, heading towards Bobby. She headed back to the clubhouse, smiling at Jax as she did so. Out of everyone, she was probably his biggest supporter at the moment. 'Maybe he'll come back with a clear head. At least he'll be with Quinn.' She thought to herself.

Later that night, Charlie was standing outside the clubhouse with Tara, waiting for Jax to come out. The guys were in Church, voting to allow Jax to transfer. Jax came out, looking dejected. Tara hugged him and Charlie took his hand.

"You ok?" Tara asked, pulling away. Jax shrugged, Charlie offered him a small smile and stepped back to give the two a moment. Gemma came over and looked at the three of them.

"I need to talk to you." She said

"It's done Ma." Jax told her, she shook her head.

"Meet me at my house." She said, "You too." She said, looking at Charlie and Tara.

Tara, Jax and Charlie got to the house before Gemma did. They went inside and Tara started tea while Charlie and Jax sat at the table and lit cigarettes. A few minutes later, Gemma and Clay came in and Jax and Charlie stood up.

"Sit down, both of you." Gemma said. Tara and Charlie started to walk out of the room, "You too girls, sit. Tara knows what it is I have to tell them." Gemma said sitting in her chair at the dining table. Clay sat at the head of the table with Jax to his right and Tara next to him, while Gemma sat to his left and Charlie sat next to her and took her hand.

"What is this?" Clay asked, he and Jax shared looks of concern.

"The night of Bobby's party, I didn't get into an accident driving home. I was attacked..." Gemma started. Charlie glared across the table at Tara, 'why does everyone insist on keeping me in the dark? Ah'm not a fockin child anymore' she thought to herself.

"A minivan pulled up behind me. A girl jumps out in a panic. Says her baby's choking.. The girl was very convincing... There was a goddamned doll in the car seat... She hit me over the back of the head with, you know, a blackjack or something..." Gemma continued. Tara shot Charlie and Gemma a look of sympathy, Jax and Clay just seemed to be getting angrier by the second.

"I came to, handcuffed to a chain-link, in a utility house out by the access road. They wore masks... There were three of them... The one who spoke, I-I knew his voice... The tat on his throat... Zobelle's right hand- Weston." Jax was definitely pissed at this point, and Charlie was finally comprehending the situation. The guys may have thought it best to keep her out of the loop while she was in Tucson at school, but that didn't mean that Juice didn't fill her in once she was home. She knew all about Zobelle and how much trouble he was causing her family.

"Told me to deliver a message to you." Gemma continued, looking right at Clay as she did so, "Stop selling guns to color. Said if I.. if I didn't tell you... that he'd find me, and do it again..." Gemma paused and looked each of them in the eye before continuing. "They raped me... All three of them... More than once." Charlie had tears running down her face, but that didn't stop her, or Tara, from jumping when Jax pounded his fist onto the table. When Jax made eye contact with Charlie, she saw the tears in his eyes too. Jax got up and walked behind Clay to Gemma. He took her hands in his and brought them to his forehead before kissing them and turning back to Clay. He rested his hand on Clay's shoulder, Clay reached up and squeezed it. As Jax headed to the back door, Tara got up to follow, shooting Gemma a comforting smile as she did so. Charlie hugged Gemma and kissed her cheek before standing and passing behind her. Charlie looked down, into Clay's eyes before saying,

"Take care of this... We couldn' do anything abou' me, but her? She's your Queen, and yeh will fix this." She rested her hand on his shoulder as she passed behind him too. He looked back at her and nodded once. Charlie followed Jax and Tara outside and got into her car.

"You gonna be able to get back alone?" He asked, she smirked up at him through her tear filled eyes.

"Yeah Jackie, Ah'll be alrigh. Ah'll go straight there and text yeh when Ah do." She said as she turned her car on. He nodded and shut her in, turning to his bike to follow Tara back to their place. Charlie did as she said she would and went straight to the clubhouse. She didn't even make it to her room before Chibs, Happy and Juice were surrounding her.

"Wha's wrong Lovie? Wha' happen'?" Chibs asked. She just shook her head.

"Ah don' think Ah'm allowed to say. Ah'm sure yeh'll find out tomorrow. Ah'm fine, Ah'm no' hurt. Ah jus wanna go to bed." She said, trying to stop the tears. Juice nodded and wrapped his arm around her, leading her back to her room. She quickly washed her face and changed her clothes before collapsing into bed. Juice sat next to her. "Stay with me, please?" She asked him, "At least until Ah fall asleep." He nodded at her and kicked his boots off. He sat on her bed, leaning up against the headboard, she laid her head on his lap and he started combing through her hair with his fingers. Once she was asleep, Juice carefully stood and made sure she was tucked in before picking up his boots and silently leaving the room.

* * *

The next morning, as Charlie left her room in search of water, Happy stopped her.

"Since you had to use the last one, I picked you up a new one." He said, handing her a holstered Glock.

"Thanks Hap. Let's pray I don' have ta use this one too, yeah?" she said, carefully pulling the gun from the holster to examine the piece. He smirked at her and nodded once, moving aside for her to pass by.

"Gonna get crowded around here soon. Probably best if you bunk with the idiot, or me and Koz while everyone's here." He said, following her into her room. She nodded.

"Ah figured, Ah've go' a bag of clothes and stuff on the bed Ah need to take in there." She said, putting her new gun in her purse. Happy nodded once and grabbed the bag for her.

"I'll just leave it on his bed." Happy said, taking her bag down the hall to Juice's room for her. She nodded her thanks to him and headed back to the main room and into the kitchen.

A while later, Charlie was having a smoke on her picnic table when the guys trailed out of the clubhouse. All of them with shared looks of concern. Juice and Chibs nodded at each other before Juice headed towards her.

"You were there when Gemma told Jax and Clay weren't you? That's what you were upset about last night?" He asked her, she nodded, flicking her cigarette away. Juice pulled her into his chest and rested his head on hers. "We're going to handle this baby, everything's gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay." He promised her. She squeezed his waist to let him know she heard him before he pulled away. Juice looked down into Charlie's bright gray eyes and leaned down as Charlie stood on her tip-toes to lean into him. Their lips brushed for just a second before Charlie smiled and leaned up further, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips firmly to his.

"Abou' fockin time, Juicy Boy!" Chibs yelled from behind them. They pulled apart laughing and Juice kissed her forehead before letting her go.

"I gotta go help collect personal stock, we're running low. You got anything stashed anywhere?" He asked her. She shook her head.

"Only the new Glock tha' Happy gave me this mornin." She said.

"You keep that on you, at all times." He told her, finally pulling away when Chibs called for him. He quickly kissed her lips again before jogging over to the bikes to head out with the guys.

A while later, Half-Sac brought a limping Tig into the clubhouse and headed towards a back room. A few minutes later Tara came in, Charlie pointed her towards the dorms before following. She helped Tara clean Tig up before going to Juice's room for a nap.

* * *

Juice went into his room at the clubhouse when they got back from the meet with Jimmy to find Charlie asleep in his bed. He smiled to himself and sat next to her on the bed. Looking down at her, he brushed a lock of hair out of her face causing her to stir. She opened her eyes and smiled when she saw Juice.

"How was the meet?" She asked, almost wary of the answer.

"Jimmy's a bastard. Kept asking questions about you, dodging Clay's questions, talking shit about Fi and Kerrianne. Chibs wanted to throttle him, would have too if Clay hadn't have held him back." He told her. She sat up, shaking her head.

"Aye, he is a bastard. Ah jus' hope Ah don' see him while he's here." She said, heading to the bathroom to wash the sleep from her eyes. Juice nodded, following and watching her.

"I got Church in a few, but I think we need to talk about what happened this morning." He said once she finished cleaning her face.

"Yeah, okay Juicy. Ah'll be here." She said smiling at him through the mirror. He nodded and smiled at her before leaving the room. Charlie slipped her shoes back on and headed to the bar to get some drinks ready for the guys for after Church. Standing at the bar, she thought about the talk she was about to have with Juice. Did she want to become his girl? His Old Lady even? Was she ready for everything that meant? With every question she asked herself, more butterflies awoke in her stomach. Yes, she wanted that. She wanted that WITH Juice. 'He's my best friend, I feel safe with him. He knows more about me than Chibs even.' Charlie was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't notice Piney come into the clubhouse until the gun went off. She dropped to her stomach behind the bar and stayed there until the yelling stopped and Juice found her. He held his hand out to her and she took it, pulling herself up. Juice looked at Jax, silently asking if it was okay to leave. Jax nodded and Juice pulled Charlie back to his room. Once the door was closed behind them, Charlie sat in the chair in the corner while Juice paced in front of her.

"CJ, you're my best friend, and I don't want to loose that... But seeing you in the hospital last week, and getting stabbed in jail, and with all this shit going on right now... I've realized that I don't want to loose you period... Ever..." Juice started, stopping his pacing to look at her. She smiled at him and stood up.

"Juice, Ah don' know what Ah'd do withou' yeh. Ever since Ah came to Charmin and Happy went back on the road, Ah've looked no' jus' te Chibs or Jax for me protection or companionship... Even though they're me family, all of yeh have made me family here... It's all Ah've ever wanted... Ah'm so scared lately Juicy... For meself, for the family Ah left behind, for me family here... But Ah know tha' Ah couldn't make it through any of this withou' yeh... Ah think Ah've fallen in love with yeh Juice... An' tha' scares me most of all." Charlie was almost in tears. Juice took the two steps that separated them and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. She brought her arms up and wrapped them around his neck, resting her head on his chest. He kissed the top of her head before speaking again.

"You don't have to be scared to be with me Charlotte. I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you, and I would give my life to protect you. I love you CJ, and I will always do everything in my power to make you happy." Juice whispered into her hair. She nodded and held him tighter.

"Ah know tha' Juicy... But... But Ah haven' been in a relationship since Ah was fifteen. An' tha' only lasted a couple of weeks, until Jimmy found out and threatened him. Paddy was jus' a kid back then too, an Jimmy told him if he ever wanted to prospect for the club he'd leave me be... So he did... Ah've never even been loved by a man Juice. Wha' if yeh decide yeh don' wan' me anymore, if Ah can' be what yeh need?" She explained, tears falling, soaking the leather of his kutte against her face. He pulled back from her and looked into her eyes.

"Charlie, baby, I'm not gonna stop loving you or leave you, just because you're inexperienced. That just means I get to teach you everything you need to know." That was exactly what she needed to hear at that moment, and she pulled his face down to her own, kissing him, showing him every emotion she couldn't define. He nipped her bottom lip, causing her to gasp in surprise. Juice took the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth, caressing her tongue with his own, discovering her tongue piercing. He smiled into the kiss before pulling away. "When did you get that done?" He asked, surprised that he hadn't noticed it before.

"When Ah was in Tucson las' semester. Ah was itching for new ink, but Ah promised Happy tha' he'd always be my ink guy so Ah go' tha' done instead." She explained with a smirk. Juice smirked back, 'teaching her is going to be the best experience of my life.' he thought to himself before kissing her again. He walked them backwards to the bed, sitting and pulling her down onto his lap. He fell back, her still on top of him, before she pulled back laughing. She looked into his deep brown eyes and smiled. "So... we're really gonna try this?" She asked him.

"Yeah baby, we really are... I mean, if you want to... We can always stay best friends, if you'd rather..." He mumbled, she leaned back down to kiss him again.

"Juice?" She said against his lips, he hummed in response, "Ah don' think friends kiss like this." She said smirking. He smiled up at her before quickly rolling them over so he was hovering over her.

"I don't think so either." He said before kissing her again. Juice gently stroked the strip of skin above her hip, slipping his fingers under her shirt. Just as he was about to go further, the door flew open and Chibs and Happy walked in. "What the FUCK?!" Juice yelled at them, causing Happy to smirk and Chibs to laugh. Charlie hid her face in Juice's chest and giggled.

"We interrupting something?" Happy asked.

"Obviously." Juice said flatly, sitting up and pulling Charlie with him. Charlie looked over at Chibs, biting her lip, looking for his approval of her decision. He looked back at her and smiled.

"As long as yer happy Sweetheart, Ah'm alrigh with this." He said, then he shifted his attention to Juice. "Bu' if yeh hurt her in any way Juicy Boy..." Chibs let the sentence fall and Juice nodded, understanding the jist of Chibs' warning.

"And if he doesn't hurt you, I will." Happy finished, causing Charlie to giggle again. Juice looked at her and shook his head.

"You're just as sadistic as Happy sometimes, ya know that?" He asked her. She nodded, smiling.

"He adopted me as his sister the momen' he put me on his bike at the airport. Ah've come to accept it." She said, causing all three men to chuckle.

"You two get some rest, big day tomorrow." Chibs said, following Happy out of the room.

"Lock the damn door this time dumb ass." Happy said, closing said door behind Chibs and himself. Juice smiled at Charlie before getting up to lock the door. He turned back to the bed and watched as his girl made herself comfortable in his bed. He kicked off his boots, stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed next to her. Charlie sighed as she cuddled up to Juice, laying her head on his chest and making herself comfortable. He wrapped his arm around her, resting his hand on her hip, rubbing his thumb over the elastic of her pajama shorts.

* * *

**Thank you guys so much! I hope I did alright with all the mushy interactions, fluff isn't really my forte lol... Lock Down and major plot points next chapter... Everything is coming together nicely, I'm pretty sure you'll all like it. :D**

**Also, I don't think the flashbacks explained this well, but Charlie's mom was John Teller's sister. Something happened to her and she left Charming with JT and moved to Belfast where she befriended Maureen Ashby, Fiona Larkin and Chibs... and entered into a relationship with Jimmy O, but they never married, so Charlie IS a Teller... And sometimes Charlie is called CJ instead of Charlie, so just to clear that up, her name is Charlotte Jane Teller.**

**Hope that helps some, I have a whole list of notes and a notebook full of plot points for this story and now that we're a few chapters in it seems to be flowing well. No promises on when the next chapter will be out, but it's half done already so hopefully soon.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

The next morning, Charlie was worried to see almost everyone she'd ever met in Charming trickle onto the lot. Full lock down mode was commencing. Gemma came out of the clubhouse and sat on the picnic table next to Charlie.

"Clay's gonna make his speech in a few minutes." She said, Charlie nodded, watching Juice jog over to Jax. They all headed inside together and Charlie stood firmly between Juice and Happy. Juice wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, Happy took a step towards them so he was right behind her. That moment was the safest she had felt in a very long time. Across the room Tig whistled.

"Everybody! Listen up!" He said, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to Clay.

"I wanna welcome you all to Club Reaper. I'm glad you made your reservations early, cause, as you can see, we are booked to capacity... You're here because you're family. And because SAMCRO takes care of it's own... In the next couple of days, this club's got some business to handle that could put our members and the people connected to us in unfriendly situations. Now, chances are, nothing's gonna happen, but... People have already been hurt on my watch... and that ain't ever gonna happen again..." Clay took a long pause and looked at Gemma. Juice took the pause as an opportunity to look down at Charlie and kiss the side of her head. She leaned into his embrace and they turned their attention back to Clay. "Nobody gets in. Nobody gets out without an escort. You got a safety concern, you talk to Piney. You got a comfort concern, you talk to my Queen. Under this roof, you'll all be safe. I want you to make yourself at home. I love all of ya." Applause sounded through the clubhouse as Clay finished and turned to kiss Gemma. Charlie looked up at Juice and kissed his cheek.

"Gotta get to Church babe, I'll be back out soon ok?" He said. She nodded and squeezed his hand before he walked away. She went outside to the picnic table and lit a cigarette as she watched the movement from around the lot. Everybody was on edge and it was becoming a familiar scene to her. Lyla came over and sat next to her, watching the kids play.

"How're you holding up Charlie?" She asked

"Ah'm alright Lovie. Just feels too much like home. It's makin' me uncomfortable." Charlie told her. She nodded and smiled at the Irish woman.

"The guys will take care of everything. We're safe here." Lyla said confidently.

"Ah love yeh Ly, bu tha's a very naive stance to take." Charlie argued, flicking her cigarette away. Lyla laughed and nodded.

"I suppose, but I'd rather be safe and comfortable, than worrying the whole time they're out." She said. Charlie smiled.

"Ah suppose. Yeh won' stay optimistic like tha for long though, no' bein an Ol' Lady." Charlie said. She kissed Lyla on the cheek and went inside to grab her purse. As she left their room, Juice came up to her and eyed her purse.

"Hey Beautiful, you're not headin out alone are you?" He asked, concern clearly showing through his eyes. She blushed and smiled at his compliment.

"No, Ah'm goin with Gem to run errands in a bit." She answered. He nodded and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in for a hug. She rested her head on his chest and sighed. "Ah'm scared Juicy... this is too much like home." She told him. She felt him nod and kiss the top of her head, making her blush again.

"Nothing's gonna happen to you babe, that's what this lock down is for." He told her. Opie and Jax came up the hall and Juice pulled away from her.

"Don't pull apart on our account Bro." Jax said, smirking at his cousin's scarlet face. She glared at him, sticking her tongue out, making all three Sons laugh. "So mature CJ, you're so grown up." Jax said. She shook her head and Juice put his arm back around her shoulders.

"We've got some club shit to handle real fast. You stay safe today, ok babe?" Juice said, smiling down at her. She raised her brow at him, but nodded anyways. He had never called her that in front of anyone before. Taking it a step further, he pulled her back into him and kissed her soundly and they followed Jax and Opie outside to the row of bikes. She walked back to the picnic table and leaned against it, smiling like a school girl while she watched the three of them ride off. Once the gate was closed and locked behind them, she headed back inside looking for Gemma.

Charlie found her sitting with Tara at the bar, watching the camera monitors. Before she was comfortable on her stool, a sweet-butt brought her a cup of coffee, already made to her taste. She nodded her thanks at the girl and turned to the conversation going on between the women next to her. Gemma was explaining Club Respect to Tara for the upteenth time.

"Aye Tara, as an Old Lady you're even further up the respect pole than Ah am, and even Ah get served before Ah have to ask. Jus' accept it Lovie, it'll make things go a lo' smoother. They can sense yer uncertainty and they will try to move in on Jax unless yeh demand and command the respect yeh deserve." Charlie said, causing Gemma to beam at her.

"Precisely what I was trying to say Sweetheart." Gemma said, knocking shoulders with the younger woman. Charlie smirked and started on her coffee. "Oh, and Chibs mentioned what he saw last night, so maybe you should remember the advice you just spit out Charlie." Gemma said, causing Charlie to choke on her mouthful of coffee. She sat her mug down and shot a tight smile at Gemma, who smirked in reply.

"I'm not sixteen years old anymore. My cat fighting days are over." Tara argued, bringing the attention back to herself.

"We'll see about that." Gemma and Charlie said at the same time, causing all three women to chuckle. "Gemma, who's tha'?" Charlie asked, looking back up at the monitor.

"Holy shit. Open the gate! Get him in here now!" Gemma yelled at a prospect, who ran outside. He returned a few minutes later with a badly burned Chuck. Tara ran off to grab her medical bag and started cleaning and bandaging his burned hands.

"You need to put this ointment on the burns every few hours, otherwise you'll run a pretty high risk of infection." Tara told him.

"Man, you must have really pissed somebody off." Gemma said. Charlie smirked as she looked around. She noticed Juice come back in and he headed right for her. When he saw Chuck's hands he looked like he might be sick. Clay and Jax came in and Charlie stood up and took Juice's hand, standing with him by the bar. He kissed her forehead before turning back to the conversation going on around them.

"Come on girls, let's go run those errands." Gemma said, standing to kiss Clay. Charlie looked up at Juice and he smiled, leaning down to kiss her.

"Be careful, keep your eyes open, and do not leave the prospect." Juice told her. She smiled and nodded once before following Gemma and Tara to the car.

In the car, Gemma saw a Catholic statue sitting on the dash and asked Tara about it.

"... I believe we all got a job to do."

"Fate?" Tara interrupted.

"Service. Our lot. For you it's medicine, you're a healer. For you, Charlie, it's communication, you're a writer and speaker... And nothin should ever stop either of you from doin that." Gemma explained.

"For you it's Family." Tara said

"Yeah. I get it now. God wants me to be a fierce Mother. That's my path." Gemma said. Neither Tara or Charlie knew what to say to that, so they both stayed quiet until they pulled up to the market. The women restocked on beer and meat, with Half-Sac trailing behind them, trying to put random stuff in the cart like a child. Little stuff like that just made Sac more endearing to Charlie. Over the last year, he had become one of the best prospects she had ever seen and she prayed for the guys to vote him in.

* * *

At the safe house, Jax's plan to draw the ATF away so the SONS could get their guns had worked perfectly. Jax paused to light a cigarette and noticed Jimmy had gone over to Chibs.

"Glad we could move past our history Filip." Jax heard Jimmy say.

"Yeah." Was Chibs' short response.

"How's me insolent gash of a daughter? Heard she got attacked again. Apparently that sort of thing doesn't just happen in Belfast." Jimmy asked, trying to get a rise out of Chibs. Chibs stood stone still and glared at Jimmy from behind his sunglasses.

"Charlie is a strong woman. She's survived worse. She'll be fine." Chibs said hotly.

Jimmy smirked and nodded. "Ah appreciate you reachin out to Fiona." Jimmy said. Chibs looked startled. "Nothin happens with Fiona without me knowin about it. How many times do I have to teach yeh tha lesson?" Chibs took a step towards Jimmy.

"You touch her, or Kerrianne, or come after Charlie again and I will cut you into a million pieces." Chibs said. Jax had heard enough, it would definitely not be good for business if things went further.

"Everything okay?" Jax said, coming up behind Jimmy.

"Yeah, just swappin old Irish folk tales." Jimmy said turning to Jax.

"We're done." Tig said, closing up the van. Jimmy walked away.

* * *

Back at the hospital, Gemma and Charlie were in the cafeteria getting coffee while Tara completed her charts.

"Do yeh really think writing is my callin Gem?" Charlie asked

"Of course Baby. I've read most of what you've written and you're amazing. Don't let anyone or anything tell you differently." Gemma paused and searched Charlie's face for a moment. "Did something happen in Tucson Baby? Something that made you want to rush home before Happy got there?" Gemma asked. Charlie immediately shook her head.

"Of course not Gemma. Ah jus wanted to get home to help Opie, and to see you and everyone else. Ah was jus sick of the heat in Tucson. Arizona just isn't where Ah belong." Charlie said. Gemma saw through it right away but left it for the time being.

Okay Baby. If you say so." Gemma said. Just then, Tara came storming into the cafeteria.

"We can leave now." She said. Charlie noticed the slight bruising of Tara's knuckles but didn't say anything as she followed the other two women back to the car.

Back at the clubhouse the guys were putting the final touches together to head out for their business calls that night. Gemma wrapped her arms around Clay, Lyla around Opie, Tara around Jax and Charlie around Juice.

"Be careful tonight Juicy-Boy. Come back to me." Charlie whispered into his ear, before nipping it playfully. Juice grinned down at her before kissing her, resting his hands on her hips.

"I'm always careful Babe. But even if I come back with cuts and bruises tonight I'll still have something to look forward to." He said, his grin turning into a smirk.

"An' wha's tha?" Charlie asked, catching on to his playful mood.

"You'll be here to nurse me back to health." Juice whispered against her lips before kissing her again and pulling away. He winked at her before following his brothers' leads and getting on his bike. Charlie just laughed and walked over to Gemma, Tara and Lyla to watch their men head out.

"Come here." Gemma said, pulling Tara and Charlie in, wrapping her arms around their shoulders. Charlie did the same to Lyla and they watched the prospects lock the gate after the SONS pulled away. Gemma kissed all the girl's cheeks and said, "It'll be alright. Let's get 'em all inside." She started herding people back into the clubhouse. She called for the kids and Chuck to follow before heading in herself.

Later that night, after all the guys had pulled back onto the lot, Juice found Charlie in his bed with her laptop open typing away furiously.

"What'cha doin Baby?" He asked her, taking his wallet, guns, and rings off at the dresser

"Finishin up me homework for the week." She said, closing the laptop and setting it on the nightstand. She smiled up at him as he made his way to the bed. Once he was in just his boxers he sat next to her on the bed and she noticed the swelling around his eye. "What'd yeh boys do Juicy?" She asked, lightly tracing the bruises on his knuckles.

"Trust me babe, we look a hell of a lot better than those Aryan assholes." He said, leaning over to kiss her. They curled up together and made out for a while. Juice maneuvered his hand under her tank top and gently massaged her breasts, causing her to moan and move into his touch, Juice smirked and pulled away. "I love you CJ" he whispered

"Ah love yeh too Juice." She whispered back. They relaxed into each other and Juice soon fell asleep. Charlie lay in his arms, trying not to think about Ireland or what would happen if she had a face to face with Jimmy. After a few hours of trying not to think but doing only that, Charlie finally passed out from exhaustion.

* * *

It was dark, she could smell the dirt around her. All she could hear was a soft _pit-pit-pit_ of water dripping somewhere close by. She was tied to a rickety wooden chair, if she struggled enough, it would crush under her, but they would surely hear that. 'Best to stay put for now, figure out who they are' she thought to herself. A while later, she heard a door open, felt the Arizona heat come through the door with at least two people. They stopped talking once they realized she was awake. One of them took her blindfold off and she tried to look around. The room was too dark to make anything out, and even if she could see them, they were still wearing masks.

"Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you. We just want the SONS to come after you." One of them said.

"Well, it'll be hard for them to do tha, considerin SAMCRO thinks A'm happy here, at school." She bit back.

"Ain't talking about SAMCRO, sweetheart, talking about SAMTAZ." He answered.

"Well, good luck with tha', the only time Ah talk to Armando is when A'm tryin to get back home. A'm no' allowed to travel across state lines alone." She answered back. "Why would Armando give a shite about me anyway?" She asked.

"Because you, my sweet Irish beauty, are the only thing that could save his head from the chopping block if the Son's Nomads or SAMCRO were to find out you aren't happily tucked away in your little apartment right now." The same guy answered.

"Ransom?" She asked, she couldn't believe it, "Are ye bloody insane?! SAMTAZ doesn't have the kind of money yeh want fellas. Jus' let me go and A'll get yeh what yeh want." She tried bartering. Armando didn't dislike Charlie, but he didn't exactly like that she was his club's responsibility when she was at school. Charlie wasn't willing to bet her life on Armando's loyalty to Jax like that, she always felt best when situations were under her control.

"It ain't money we're after." The other guy said.

"Then what? A'm sure Ah could help yeh get what yeh want." Charlie tried to reason with them.

"Shut your fucking mouth bitch! All you need to know is that you won't be hurt as long as we get what we came for!" The first guy yelled. Everyone was silent for a moment before Charlie's phone went off. The first guy took it from her pocket and put it to her ear.

"Hello?" Charlie answered

"Hey chica, why weren't you in classes today? You're not hungover are you?" It was Elysia, Armando's youngest daughter, and Charlie's only friend in Tucson.

"No, Ah just had some stuff come up Elysia, A'm fine. A'll see yeh tomorrow." Charlie answered smirking up at the man who had pulled a gun out of his waistband.

"Alright chica, bye." Lys said before hanging up. The man ended the call before putting the phone in his pocket. Charlie was still smirking at him.

"Who was it?" He asked her.

"My friend Elysia..." She vaguely answered, he nodded before backhanding her. The weak chair crushed under her with the rough motion of her falling to her side. Pain shot through her shoulder and she cried out.

"Wait," The second guy said, "Elysia Torrez? As in Armando Torrez's baby girl? The one we were supposed to..." The first guy pistol whipped him across the face.

"Shut your mouth. I won't tell you again." The first guy said. He bent down to look at Charlie. "Either you or her chica, and it's not your decision to make." He whispered to her. 'Well A'm fucked. Armando's not going to trade me for her. God help these poor bastards when Hap finds out.' Charlie thought to herself. The man pistol whipped Charlie, causing her to pass out again, before standing up and pushing the other man from the room.

When Charlie woke up, she was still on the ground with bits of the broken chair all around her. Her head throbbed and her shoulder ached, but she knew she needed to be strong. These men weren't after her, they wanted something from Armando. 'Well, one thing's for sure, A'm transferring all of my classes online and going home as soon as Ah get the fuck out of here.' She thought to herself, trying to wiggle around. She was finally able to pull one arm out of the ropes around her wrists and she sat up slowly, reaching for anything she could use to defend herself. She was almost to her feet when she heard a gunshot and fell back to her stomach, groaning in pain as she did so. A few minutes later, when she was sure the gunfire was finished, she pushed herself back up, picked up the chair leg as if it was a bat, and headed towards the crack of light under a door to her left. She opened the door just as someone stepped up to it. Armando looked at her questioningly before she smacked him with the chair leg and dropped it.

"You're alright then Princessa?" He asked her. She glared at him and punched him in the gut.

"Yeh need to keep a better eye on yer daughter. They didn' wan me Armando. They wanted her. Yeh'll be fuckin lucky if Ah don' tell Hap or my cousin about this fuckin incident! Ah don' mind helpin when Ah can while Ah'm here, Ah'm all abou the Club, but Ah swear to fuckin God Armando, yeh get me hurt again and it'll be YER HEAD!" She screamed, heading out to his bike.

"Keeping an eye on Elysia is your job Charlie. That was the deal." He reminded her.

"Well Ah just got bloody kidnapped fer the lass, so yeh can take yer deal and shove it up yer arse. Ah'm callin Hap tonight and goin back to Charmin as soon as Ah can and yeh won' have to worry abou the blasted deal!" Charlie roared. Armando didn't argue this time, he helped her onto the back of his bike and took her back to her apartment. Charlie was still shaking with rage when she got home. Before she could walk away from the bike, Armando took her hand.

"Thank you for everything you've done for Lys, it was her who told me to check on you. You don't ever call her 'Elysia' to her face and she understood what you needed. I found this in one of their pockets. You should probably check in back home." He said, handing her her phone and pulling away. Charlie rushed inside and locked the door behind her before collapsing on her couch and calling Happy. He didn't have time to escort her home for another week. She'd just have to deal until then. She went to bed that night exhausted, but with a plan. First thing in the morning she'd head to campus and talk to her counselors. She'd feed them some bullshit sob story about how her family in Charming really needed her at home and request an online transfer. If it worked, she could still get her degree on time AND go home, where she wouldn't get kidnapped for her supposed friends, or betrayed by her supposed family, for reasons she didn't even get to know.

* * *

**Well, that's interesting... What did Armando dooooo?! What deal? With who? Hmmm... AND Jimmy's in town... cause that always means happy times, right?! hahaha... yeah, I'm tired, sorry :D Thanks for reading, and for those of you who review, thank you too!**

**~Shell**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next morning, Charlie found herself sitting on the hood of a police cruiser between Juice and Chibs, waiting for some good news. After what seemed like forever, Unser finally came out of the station and everyone gathered around him.

"Stahl's been locked in a room with FBI for two hours. I got no idea what's goin on." He said.

"What about Weston?" Jax asked, stepping to the front of the group.

"Still waiting to hear from the DA. I'm sorry." Unser said, before heading back inside, his head hung.

Charlie reached for Juice's hand and led him and Chibs back to their bikes. "What now babe?" She asked, looking up at Juice.

"Now you go with the girls. Try to relax and don't worry. We'll take care of this shit." He said, pecking her on the lips. She nodded before hugging him and Chibs. She headed towards Tara, but a hand on her arm stopped her. She looked up into the deep dark eyes of her protector.

"Hap?" She asked, cocking her head.

"Make sure you're caryin today. We don't know what could go down. I know the Queen and Doc can handle themselves if they need to, but you need to have Ope's Old Lady's back as well as your own." He said. She nodded and smirked up at him.

"Always Hap." She said, pulling his hand to feel the bulge in the back of her pants under Juice's SOA shirt. He nodded, smirking back at her and walking away. She looked back at Juice and smiled. He was staring at her, eye brow raised in question, she shook her head and finished the walk to Tara's car where Tara, Lyla and Gemma were waiting on her. As they pulled out of the lot, Charlie saw Chibs and Juice in what looked like a heated discussion and Happy shaking his head in amusement behind them. She smirked and tuned into the conversation going on between the other women in the car.

"So what do we do now?" Lyla was asking.

"Now we head back to the clubhouse and try to keep everyone calm and happy. The guys will handle everything. We should probably hit the store again today, with so many members from out of town here, we're running low on beer again." Gemma said. Charlie was starting to get a bad feeling about the day.

"Ah don mean to be pessimistic Gem, but Ah have a horrible feelin abou today. Ah don' think everyone's gonna make it through the day." Charlie said, almost in tears.

"Charlotte Jane Teller, now is NOT the time to be voicing feelings like that. You feel pessimistic all you want, but you start voicing that shit and you'll bring everyone around you down." Gemma lectured. "You girls remember what I said about being a strong Old Lady?" When she got three affirmative answers she continued, "Well keep that shit in mind when you get feelings like that. A good, in tune Old Lady's feelings will almost always be right, especially about her own Old Man, but when you start voicing that shit, you put doubt in their minds, and THAT will end badly for everyone. So no matter what you think or feel, they only know that you think and feel that they are in control and that they are doing the right thing. That's all that matters." Gemma finished her lecture as they pulled back onto the lot.

Lyla opted to stay and help Piney with the kids while Tara, Gemma and Charlie went to the store with Abel, and Half-Sac following. Gemma took the first couple bags to the car while Tara, Charlie and Half-Sac finished inside. When they came out, they saw Gemma watching something intently. She turned around smirking and rushed to them, pulling the keys from Tara's grasp.

"I'm driving" She said, leaving no room for debate as Charlie slid into the backseat and buckled Abel's car seat in. Gemma just sat there for a moment watching the silver car in front of them.

"That blonde... She's the one you chased." Tara said, starting to realize what was going on.

"Who is she Gem?" Charlie asked.

"Zoebelle's daughter. She's the one who told me her baby was choking and hit me over the head." Gemma explained, starting the car. 'Holy Mother of Christ, today just keeps getting better...' Charlie thought to herself, shaking her head.

"Where are we going?" Tara asked, Charlie rolled her eyes at the Doctor's inability to read Gemma.

"Forwards sweetheart." Gemma said, pulling out behind the silver box on wheels. 'Fuck me' Charlie thought, 'this is not going to end well.'

"Gemma, why don' yeh drop Tara and Abel off at the clubhouse, then Ah'll come with yeh to talk to the girl, yeah? We could have Sac stay on her till we catch up." Charlie suggested.

"We'll be fine Charlie-Girl, I only want to talk to the little tart." Gemma said with a shake of her head. Charlie sighed, knowing that Gemma was going to do anything but talk to the little gash. Charlie took comfort in the cool metal of the Glock tucked into the back of her pants and pulled out her phone. Smiling, she opened her messages and sent a quick _I love you_ to Juice and sliding it back in her pocket.

"What are we doing here Gemma?" Tara asked when she saw that the girl had stopped. Gemma pulled to the curb a few houses away and cut the engine. "That rape would have destroyed most women, but it made you stronger, wiser, compassionate. Whatever it is you think you have to do, you're past it." Tara tried to reason.

"My son. My husband. Their brothers. They're out there risking their lives, their freedom, for me. This is how I do my part. God's put her in my path so that I can fix that part of me that they ripped open. I'm supposed to do this." Gemma said, her eyes never leaving the girl.

"Jesus. Do you even hear what you're saying?" Tara said. Charlie smirked, she knew what she had to do. Writing may be her calling, but family and the club still come first. Gemma turned to Tara and took her hand.

"Get my grandson home safe. Love you, Tara. I'm glad you're with my boy."

"Gemma, please don't do this" Tara begged.

"I'll be okay." Gemma said, leaning over to kiss Tara's cheek. Charlie nodded.

"Yeah, yeh will be okay Gem." Charlie said, stepping out of the car and pulling her gun out of her pants. The other two women followed her out of the car. "You can't stop me from following yeh Gem, so don try." Charlie said, releasing the safety and cocking her gun before putting it back in her pants. Gemma nodded once in her direction and started walking towards the house the girl had just entered. Charlie followed close behind, not worried about weather or not Tara did as she was told. As they got closer to the house Charlie heard what she thought was a gunshot inside and pulled her gun back out. Gemma saw her and did the same, they stopped and waited, noticing that the girl was just getting to the porch. They watched as she finally went inside and they started towards the house again. As Gemma entered the house she aimed at the blonde tart and said,

"Put down the gun." The girl turned to see Gemma, Charlie was still hidden outside. The girl lowered her gun and said,

"You're the one who killed him."

"Turn around" Gemma said, kicking the door closed between herself and Charlie. The girl raised her gun a bit and Gemma shouted, "Turn around!" She turned towards Gemma and Gemma fired, hitting the girl in the chest. Charlie didn't jump or panic when she heard the shot, she inched the door back open so she could see and let out a breath of relief when she saw Gemma still standing with her gun raised. "It's over baby, go home." Gemma whispered to Charlie, Charlie shook her head and started to walk towards her Aunt. Gemma shook her head and plopped on the couch. "Go home CJ now." Gemma sighed, just as Charlie turned to go, she heard movement behind her, she whipped around, her gun pointed straight at Agent Stahl. Gemma sighed again."Bloody day for both of us." Gemma stated.

"Either get out of here little girl or drop the gun and have a seat." Stahl said to Charlie.

"Go on Charlie, go find Tara." Gemma commanded. Charlie understood that she'd been dismissed and backed away slowly, never moving her gun or loosing eye contact with the crazy ATF agent. Once Charlie was outside, she ran back up the street to Kip.

"We've gotta go find Tara and get back to the club NOW." She said, swinging her leg around him on his bike. He nodded and took off to Jax's house. They pulled in behind the Cutlas and Charlie ran inside. "TARA!" She screamed.

"What CJ? Jesus you scared me!" Tara said from the kitchen.

"We've gotta get back to the clubhouse NOW! It's not safe out here right now." Charlie said, grabbing Tara's arm and pulling. "Kip, grab Abel, let's go now!" Charlie tried pulling Tara out the door.

"What happened Charlie? Where's Gemma?" Tara said, pulling from Charlie's grasp.

"Just trust me, Ah'll tell yeh once we get there safe." Charlie said.

"How about yeh tell me now?" They heard from the door. Tara screamed in surprise and Charlie whipped around, pulling her gun to point at the intruder's head as he aimed his at her. "Put the gun down sweetheart, yeh couldn't shoot me anyways." He said.

"Wanna bet? Ah was taught by the best, and it's no' like Ah've never killed before." Charlie said, smirking at the intruder.

"I'm calling Jax." Tara said, pulling her cell out. After a moment, Tara said "Hey, I um didn't wanna bother you with this but... It's Gemma, she followed Zoebelle's daughter into a house and Charlie followed her... I know, but Charlie just showed up with Sac and won't tell me what's going on and now" before Tara could finish telling Jax what was going on, the Irishman rushed Charlie and she fired, hitting him in the shoulder, but he kept coming and ran into Charlie. Charlie fell backwards, knocking her head on the counter as she fell. Tara screamed and dropped her phone, shattering it. Charlie sat up, dazed, and felt her temple, when she pulled her hand back it was streaked with blood. She reached for her gun, but the man kicked it away from her. He aimed at Half-Sac and demanded his weapon. "What are you doing?" Tara asked the man as Sac handed him his Glock, "What do you want?" Tara continued.

"Gemma killed my Eddy." Cameron answered, "Figured maybe I'd kill and Old Lady, even the score." He pointed his gun in Tara's face, she gasped, "Or maybe a daughter, for me son." He moved his gun back to Charlie's face, she sneered at him, almost daring him to, Kip moved between Charlie and Cameron, he raised the gun to Kip's chest, "Don't get brave boyo. Sit." He said, when Sac didn't move, he yelled for Kip to sit, causing Abel to cry from his car seat on the counter above Charlie. Cameron noticed Abel for the first time and once Kip had sat down, he maneuvered towards him. Charlie struggled to stay between him and the baby, but he kicked her ribs and she felt the crunch of her already battered ribs break causing her to subconsciously roll away from Cameron and Abel, gasping for breath. "Here we are." Cameron said, trying to soothe Abel's cries. "A son for a son." He said, pulling a knife out of the block on the counter and holding it above Abel. "Seems about right." When Cameron looked down at Abel, Kip made his move, leaping over Charlie's unconscious body towards Cameron, but Cameron was faster and plunged the knife deep into Kip's stomach. Kip fell backwards, falling over Charlie, knocking her head again with his elbow as he fell. He landed next to her on the kitchen floor. Tara's screams were all Charlie could hear as she grabbed Kip's hand and held on as she saw the life leave his eyes before her world went dark.

* * *

Chibs, Opie and Jax busted into Jax's house to see Kip dead on the kitchen floor, laying over an unconscious Charlie and an empty car seat on the counter.

"OH! Oh no!" Chibs cried, kneeling at Sac's head. Opie jumped over them to check Charlie's neck for a pulse.

"She's alive, blood coming from her head though." He said, looking up to Jax.

"My baby! TARA!" He yelled, running to the nursery where he found her tied to the rocking chair. "Jesus Christ, are you okay?" He asked her as he pulled the tape from her mouth.

"He took Abel" She stuttered.

"What? Who took him?" Jax asked frantically, standing to check the crib before turning back to her.

"That Irishman I patched up." She answered, panting

"Cameron." Opie said from the doorway, Chibs stood behind him, running his hand through his hair.

"Son of a bitch!" Jax screamed turning back to Tara. He finished untying her, "I need you to check out Charlie then you need to explain to me exactly what the fuck happened here." He demanded, turning to lean against his crib for support. He pulled his phone out to call for help. "I need you. Sac's dead, Charlie's hurt bad and Abel's gone." He said once Clay answered. Chibs helped Tara up and into the kitchen. Together, they carefully rolled Charlie onto her back, causing her to groan and her eyes to flicker open.

"Charlie-Girl, yeh're alrigh', can yeh tell us where it hurts love?" Chibs asked. Charlie tried to sit up, but Tara stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"My head and my ribs... When he kicked me Ah think he broke em where they were cracked." She answered slowly, still having trouble breathing. "Fucking IRA scum." She mumbled. Chibs smiled down at her and nodded to Tara.

"She'll be alrigh Doc." Chibs said.

"Maybe, we should still call an ambulance and the police. This needs to be handled right." Tara said, keeping eye contact with him. He nodded once and got up to make sure that was okay with Jax before calling Unser. "I'm so sorry Charlie." Tara said, looking down at her.

"Tara, we protected that boy to the best of our abilities. Kip most of all. Ah'll kill every focking member of the inner IRA if Ah have to, Ah'm getting tha boy back." Charlie answered. Tara nodded.

"You need to rest right now though. You probably have a concussion. There's an ambulance on the way." She said.

"Fock that Tara. Wrap me ribs and clean me head. Ah'm fine. Ah'll sign a focking release if Ah have to, Ah can' go to the hospital now. They need me. This was the Irish Tara, if they wan te find tha boy safe and alive Ah have to start makin calls now." Charlie said, trying to sit up again, this time pushing Tara off her when she tried to lay her back down.

"Charlie, what the fuck are you doin?" Jax asked from the doorway.

"Yeh heard me Jackie. Yeh need me. Ah'm fine." Charlie said, finally making it back to her feet.

"Whatever," He said shaking his head, "You're a stubborn bitch and if that's what you think you need to do then do it. We gotta go before the cops get here. When they ask, you came to with Sac dead and went to find Tara, she was tied up in the nursery with tape over her mouth and you called for help then." Jax said before walking out, Chibs and Opie behind him. Chibs stopped and turned to Charlie.

"Juicy loves yeh sweetheart, he just needed reassurin that Hap is just another brother to yeh. At least let em check yeh out when they get here." he said. She smiled at him and nodded gratefully.

A few minutes later, David Hale came in and found the two women sitting in the nursery. Tara was close to tears and Charlie was pacing in anger, blood caked in her auburn hair and down the left side of her face. Tara told him what happened from her point of view and Charlie kept pacing.

"Miss Teller, you wanna tell me what happened before you and Kip got here? Or about what happened in the kitchen?" Hale asked. Charlie turned to look at him, her eyebrow raised.

"Shouldn' Ah get checked out first?" She asked, she hadn't decided whether or not she should tell him about what she saw at the house. Hale nodded and his officer led her out front to the waiting ambulance. "Before yeh touch me, Ah wan' to be perfectly clear now, Ah am not goin to hospital." She said to the paramedic waiting on her.

"If you insist miss. Is there any other area of concern besides your head?" The young woman asked. Charlie smiled at her and nodded.

"Yeah, me ribs. Ah was injured a few weeks ago, cracked em. The man who kidnapped me cousin's baby kicked me pretty hard." She explained. The girl nodded and got to work cleaning up Charlie's head. Once her wound was clean, the girl bandaged it and said,

"It wasn't a bad cut and should heal on it's own soon enough, but I really recommend going in for a CT scan to make sure there's no internal bleeding or swelling." The girl said, lifting Charlie's shirt to check her ribs. "You should probably get X rays too, these are bruising pretty bad already." Tara had come out to check on Charlie and gave her an I told you so look. Charlie raised her eyebrow at Tara and said,

"Fine, but only as an outpatient and only if Dr. Knowles here does it." She answered. Tara nodded at the girl and said,

"Just wrap them for now, I'll take her in." The paramedic nodded at her and wrapped Charlie's ribs. They finished up right as the guys came pulling up. Juice, Chibs and Happy ran over to the ambulance and everyone else headed towards Hale. Juice helped Charlie step down from the ambulance and held her close.

"I'm so sorry baby, I love you." He whispered, kissing her bandaged temple.

"Ah'm fine Juice, really. Just a bump, maybe a broken rib. Tara's taking me for a scan and an X ray in a bit. Ah just need yeh to hold me for a minute." She said, he nodded and pulled her as close as he dared after hearing her say 'broken rib'. They felt Happy behind them and Charlie turned in Juice's arms to look up at him.

"I'm proud of you kid. You did everything you could." He told her, she shook her head, tears springing to her eyes for the first time since she woke up on the kitchen floor.

"Ah should have shot the focker when he busted through the door." She said, a single tear falling down her cheek. Chibs reached up and wiped it away.

"No, sweetheart, yeh did all yeh could. No one blames yeh for this, yeh shouldn' blame yerself." He said, resting his hand on her shoulder. Juice wrapped his arms snuggly around her waist, trying his best to comfort her. Happy just shook his head at her, he knew since Jax told him what happened that she'd take as much blame as possible for this. He also knew that's why she wasn't rushing to the hospital to get checked out, part of her probably thought she deserved the pain.

"You are not to blame for this, do you understand me? You are a strong woman and you did everything you could to save that baby. If you would have done anything else you'd me laying in that kitchen with the prospect right now instead of standin here in front of me. I don't wanna hear this shit again. You get yourself checked out and start making those calls you think you need to make," Happy said, keeping eye contact with the fragile girl in front of him, he knew making her buck up instead of babying her right now is what she needed. He could see her posture straightening with every command he gave her. She nodded at him and threw her arms around his neck whispering her thanks. He patted her back twice before she pulled away. 'Anyone but her or Ma and I'd knock em to the ground' He thought smirking at her. He walked away after nodding to Chibs, who smiled at him in thanks.

"You okay now baby?" Juice asked, a little confused by what happened, but grateful to Happy for knowing her so well.

"Yeah Juicy. Take me to St. Thomas?" She asked, he nodded and smiled at her taking her hand and pulling her to Clay.

"Clay, I'll be back later, Charlie needs a CT scan and an X ray." Juice said to his President.

"Get it done." Clay said, he looked down at Charlie, "I talked to Gem, I'm proud of you CJ, you did good today." She nodded at him and Juice pulled her to Tara's car. He followed them to the hospital and up to radiology for Charlie's scans.

* * *

**Sorry for the delay guys, I had a bit of trouble with this one. Good news is as hard as this one was to start, it was just as hard to stop, so Ch7's pretty much done too :D Thanks again for all the follows, favorites and reviews... I honestly didn't think my random ideas would become this good of a story and I'm glad so many of you agree lol. Look for Ch7 soon, hopefully even later tonight or tomorrow.**

**~Shell**


	7. Chapter 7

**This chapter is mostly just filler and excess from the previous chapter... Koz is here! I love Kozik :D**

* * *

Chapter 7:

An hour later, Charlie and Juice were sitting in the hospital chapel, Charlie had just told him about her day, not leaving out any small details.

"Jesus CJ..." Juice said, breaking the silence. "You shouldn't feel guilty about any of that babe. You did everything you could to protect Gem and Abel."

"Ah know Love... Ah just wish Ah hadn't have passed out when Ah did. Kip's knife was in my reach after he fell over me. Ah could have done something." Charlie said, trying not to cry again.

"Baby, you need to stop. Stop blaming yourself and stop thinking about what you could have done. You need to start thinking about what you're going to do once we get back to the clubhouse later. You said something about some phone calls, right?" Juice said, thinking back to how she snapped out of it when Happy talked to her. He ran his knuckles across her cheek, she nodded and smiled.

"Yeh're right love, Ah'll get him back. Ah'm Jax's only hope." She said, standing up to stretch, moaning in pain when her ribs caught. Juice stood up and grabbed her waist to steady her. She looked up at him and nodded, smiling. He smiled back and kissed her deeply. "Ah love yeh Juice." She said, laying her head on his shoulder.

"Love you too babe." He answered. The chapel door opened behind them and Tara came in smiling.

"Your CT scan came back, no swelling or bleeding, just a concussion. It's your ribs I'm worried about. Only one of them broke but with the angle it's broken at, any major jarring could make the broken part move and puncture something. I'd feel a lot better if you'd let me go in and fix it." Tara said.

"Yeh mean cut me open and pull out the broken piece?" Charlie asked, Tara nodded,

"That'd be the best way to do it. Either that or you take it really easy the next few weeks and we do another X ray and re evaluate then." She answered.

"Ah'd rather evaluate it later Tara, Ah don' have time for a fockin surgery right now." Charlie said, grabbing Juice's hand and heading for the door.

"Charlie, if it moves it could puncture your lung and you could die in 15 minutes." Tara said, Charlie stopped and hung her head.

"Fock me" Charlie said shaking her head. "We do this now, and make it fast Doc. Ah've got shite to do." Juice squeezed her hand and put his hand on her face, pulling her in for a sweet peck.

"I'll go call Chibs while Tara gets you prepped okay?" He asked, he could tell she was anxious, but for what he couldn't decide. She was either afraid of going under the knife, or still in a hurry to make those calls. She nodded and kissed him again.

"Tell Happy to call Koz, yeh'll need him here when Ah come out of the anesthesia." She said kissing him one last time before she let Tara lead her away.

* * *

Juice walked outside for a smoke while he made his calls. Chibs picked up on the first ring.

"_What's goin on brutha?"_

"She needs surgery to fix her rib, otherwise it could puncture her lung and she could drown in her own blood." Juice explained quickly.

"_Shite. Hap and Ah'll be there as soon as we can. When's she goin under?"_

"Tara said as soon as she could get her in. Sometime today. She asked for someone to call Koz in Tacoma. Said we'd need him when she came out. Whatever that means." Juice said, rolling his eyes.

"_Jealous again Juicy boy? Yeh need to learn, boyo, Charlie is a special woman who has long standin relationships with a lot of yer brothers. Tha' doesn' mean she doesn' love yeh, or tha she does love them the way she loves yeh. Happy, Koz and Quinn were with her through a very rough ordeal, brutha. When she's anxious or scared, they're who she looks for first. She'll look to yeh for tha' eventually Juicy, bu' yeh have to understand tha she might have everything any of us look for in an Ol' Lady, but she's never been in any real relationship before boyo. Give 'er time. Ah'll be there in a bit brutha, sit tight."_

"Alright man, thanks. I dunno how I'd make it with her without you man." Juice confessed to Chibs. He just laughed and they hung up. Juice sat on the bench, finishing his smoke. He flicked it away as his phone chirped. He opened the text message from Happy, it said:

_Talked to Chibs, called Koz. He's on his way. Be here tonight._

Juice let out a relieved sigh and headed back into the hospital to find Charlie and Tara. He found them in a room, waiting for a surgery room to be open.

"It'll be a few hours before I can get her in there. It shouldn't be too long of a surgery, if everything goes well, two hours. She's gonna be in a lot of pain afterwords, I have to cut through a lot of muscle on the side here and remove the piece of bone that's broken off." Tara explained to Juice. He nodded and sat next to Charlie on the bed, interlacing his fingers with her's.

"Thanks Doc. Chibs and Hap'll be here soon." Juice said, she nodded and left the room. "Happy called Koz, he'll be here pretty late tonight. I doubt he even stopped to pack a bag when Happy told him what happened." Juice said, running his thumb over her knuckles. She nodded and fiddled with the sheet covering her legs.

"Ah know yeh don' understand me relationships with Koz and Hap, but thank yeh for not flippin out on me abou it." She said. He nodded and rested his head ontop of hers.

"What happened when you got stateside that you forged that bond with them CJ? I mean you don't even act that way with Jax or Chibs and they're actually your family." Juice asked, "I'm not really jealous, I just want to understand so that I don't let it come between us." She nodded at his explanation and sighed. She knew she'd have to tell him, she just hoped it could wait for the current shit storm to pass before digging up the past.

"Well, Ah escaped Jimmy with McGee's help and when Ah landed, Ah saw Hap and Quinn waitin on me. We met up with Kozik, who was helpin Quinn on a run at the time, and Donut and we headed north towards Charmin. We stopped for the night, Ah hadn' ridden in a long time, Happy could feel me getting drowsy. The next mornin Ah didn't think anythin of it, Ah headed out alone to get coffees for everyone across the street... Jimmy had contacted one of his boys stateside, they managed to find us... to find me... alone in a diner, waitin on fockin coffee." Charlie paused, shaking her head. Juice kissed her temple, encouraging her to continue. "He took me, locked me in a safe house. It hadn' even been ten minutes before Ah heard gunfire. Next thing Ah know, Happy and Kozik bust into the room and untied me. Ah was shaking so bad... but they were both there. A strong constant to hold me up. They didn' even know me, but since Hap's a light sleeper, he knew Ah'd left and they followed me and engaged in a gunfight to get me back. Once we got to Charmin, if yeh remember, Hap and Koz stuck around for a few weeks." She paused again and felt Juice nod.

"Yeah, they did a few things for Clay in town and stayed at Chibs' place instead of the clubhouse." Juice recalled. Charlie nodded.

"Yeah... Ah was still havin pretty bad night terrors an they took turns sleepin in me bed with me so Ah could sleep. Ah ended up tellin both of em me whole life story, and Ah learned a lot about both of em. Nothin ever happened with either of em, Juicy. They saved me. They're me rocks. Ah love em as if they were me brothers or fathers or somethin." She finished her explanation and felt him relax. "As soon as Ah started sleepin better, they started stayin away longer. Ah finished school and signed up for classes in Arizona. Chibs didn' wan me to go tha far and called Hap. Hap didn' like it either, and gave me an ultimatum. Ah could go, but if Ah left campus without an escort he'd pull me back to Charmin kickin and screamin if he had to. Ah agreed obviously and left."

"I remember that, we were friends by that time Kiddo." Juice said, smiling down at her. She nodded and smiled back.

"That's right, Ah remember yeh sayin somethin like 'Ah'm with Hap on this one Kiddo, if yeh put yerself in danger we'll never let yeh leave the clubhouse again'" She said in a mock-Juice voice, making him chuckle.

"Yeah, I got an earful from Jax later, apparently prospects aren't supposed to talk to members or family like that." He said, still chuckling. A knock at the door brought them back to reality a moment later and David Hale stuck his head through the door.

"It's good to see you more relaxed Charlie. I figured since you're stuck here waiting for an operating room, we could use this time to take your statement about what happened this morning." He said. Juice glared at him and stood, moving between Hale and the bed.

"Now?" Juice asked

"I'd rather just get this out of the way, before she goes under anesthesia and has trouble remembering anything." Hale responded, stepping into the room, followed by another man in a suit. "This is Agent Wright, he's going to take your statement down for the ATF." Hale explained. Charlie sighed and nodded when Juice turned back to her. Juice reclaimed his seat next to CJ on her bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, she relaxed into him, silently thanking him for being her strength at the moment. Hale and Wright pulled the two chairs out of the corner and sat.

"Um, Miss Teller, I'm going to have to ask that Mr. Ortiz leave the room, as this is a sworn testimony." Agent Wright said, not even looking at the couple as he set up his camera on the roll-around table. Charlie glared at the agent and squeezed Juice's hand.

"No. Ah jus had a very traumatic morning and if me Old Man leaves the room, Ah'll end up having an anxiety attack tryin to relive it for yer stupid focking testimony." Charlie argued. Hale put his hand on the agent's shoulder and nodded, Agent Wright sighed and nodded.

"Fine Miss Teller, he can stay, but I can't have him in the shot, so..." he let his sentence fall, looking at Juice. Juice nodded and kissed Charlie's temple before getting up to stand next to the window.

"Fine... Ah was with Gemma and Tara, grocery shoppin, Gemma saw the girl involved in her rape- Ah'm sure Unser told yeh abou tha?- so we followed her. We jus wanted to talk to her." Hale gave Charlie and unbelieving look but she continued, "We caught up with her at a house in Galt, Gemma and I got out of the car, she told Tara to take Abel back to the clubhouse, Ah followed Gemma. Ah refused to let her go into a situation she knew nothin abou alone. We were walkin up to the house an Ah though Ah heard a gunshot, then we followed the girl in. She was standin there, a gun in her hand. Gemma and Ah both pulled ours, she went to shoot, Gemma was faster. Gemma commanded me to leave, Ah refused. Agent Stahl came out from the back room, gun drawn, Ah aimed mine at her. Gemma pointed out the dead body behind Stahl and said somethin like 'guess it was a bloody mornin for both of us'. Stahl told me 'either get out little girl or drop the gun and have a seat', Gemma told me to go to Tara. So Ah backed out of the house and ran back up the street where Kip was waitin for us. Ah made him take me to Jax's, where Tara was. Ah tried to get her to leave right away when we got there but before Ah could pull her and Abel out of the house, Cameron showed up. Ah saw he was armed, so Ah pulled mine. He charged me, Ah hesitated, he speared me into the counter where Ah hit me head and fell. He demanded Kip's gun while his was pointed to me head. He pulled a knife from the block on the counter and Ah tried to get up, he kicked me hard and when Kip saw him lower the knife towards Abel, he charged but Cameron was faster and Kip ended up on the floor next to me with the knife sticking out his stomach. Kip's elbow hit me head in the same place when he fell and Ah blacked out. When Ah woke up, Ah got up and was in the kitchen with a dead prospect and an empty car seat. Ah heard noises from the nursery, so Ah picked up me gun and made me way back there. Tara was tied to the rocking chair, tape over her mouth. Ah freed her and she told me Cameron had taken Abel. I collapsed in the nursery while she called yeh. By the time yeh got there, Ah was over me pity party and pissed, as yeh saw. We done?" Charlie finished with attitude.

"You're positive Gemma shot Polly Zoebelle in self defence and that the body behind Stahl was Edmund Hayes?" Hale asked

"What Ah said is what happened Hale, Ah never gave the body in the other room a name or gender, so thanks for tha info... why would Ah lie about this? What would Ah have to gain?" Charlie asked.

"Gemma's missing, Polly and Edmund were both found shot to death in that house. Agent Stahl's statement says Gemma shot them both in a flurry of rage and ran. Her statement only mentions you in passing. She said you followed Gemma in but when you saw Polly with a gun you ran." Hale explained. Charlie stared at him for a moment before she slowly stood up. She stood face to face with Hale and looked him in the eye.

"That lying ATF gash had better never show her face in my presence again. Ah will cut her focking heart out." Charlie said, voice steady and low. Hale raised an eyebrow at her before glancing back at Juice who was smirking at the pair of them.

"Right, well thank you Charlie. If you would sign this, I'll take it and have it filed. Good luck with your surgery." Hale said turning to leave, while Agent Wright packed up his camera.

"Thanks Chief." Juice called after him. He stood up to help Charlie back into bed. "That was hot babe."He said smirking down at her.

"Yeah?" She said wrapping her arms around his neck, he nodded before kissing her deeply, rubbing her hip. She sighed and pulled away. "In the hospital Juicy? And with me hurt?" She asked

"Good point, rain check?" He asked kissing her again, she giggled and nodded.

"Of course Love. As soon as bloody possible in fact." She said.

"Uh, guys? OR's ready." Tara said from the doorway. Juice pulled away frowning, Charlie smiled up at him.

"Sorry Love. Why don' yeh head back to the clubhouse, help find a lead on Abel? Tara'll call yeh when we're done." She said, he nodded at her and pecked her lips again before heading out the door, squeezing Tara's shoulder as he passed. He found his way to the waiting room and got lost in thought about the girl he just left laying in a hospital bed, headed for surgery. A few minutes later the unmistakeable clap of boots on tile brought him back to the present. Happy and Chibs took the chairs on either side of him.

"She alrigh brutha?" Chibs asked.

"She will be. She's stubborn as hell. Hale and one of the Fed's came and took her statement while we were waiting. They let me stay in the room, she told them that she'd have an anxiety attack if I left." He explained smirking, both of the other men smiled at that. "Hale said something that doesn't sit right though... About what happened at the safe house with Gemma. Apparently Charlie's statement doesn't match Stahl's and Charlie told Hale that if, and I quote, 'that lying ATF gash had better never show her face in my presence again. I'll cut her fucking heart out.'"

"That's my girl." Happy said.

"If Stahl's statement doesn' match Charlie-Girl's then they'll need Gemma's... And fast. If our girls' stories mostly match then Stahl would be out numbered and they'd either drop it or take our side." Chibs thought out loud.

"Why wouldn't they believe Charlie? She doesn't have a record at all and with everything that's documented about what Stahl's done to this club, this town... they don't have shit." Happy put in. Juice nodded in agreement.

"Ah'm assumin she's in surgery now?" Chibs asked. Juice nodded. "Well, let's get to the clubhouse, see if there's anythin we can do there. Doc'll call us when she's out."

"You guys go ahead, I'm gonna stay here." Juice said, making himself as comfortable as possible in the little plastic chair. Happy and Chibs nodded and him and left.

* * *

Almost exactly two hours later, Tara came out to find Juice, Chibs, Happy and Opie in the waiting room. Juice stood up and met Tara in the doorway, followed by the others.

"How'd she do Doc?" He asked the tired looking doctor.

"She did great. We heavily sedated her, she probably won't wake up till morning, but she's stable and I was successfully able to remove the broken piece of her rib. I'll need you guys to help me keep her as inactive as possible for the next few weeks so she can heal properly." She said, looking at all the Sons in front of her. They all nodded at her.

"Can we see her?" Juice asked. Tara smiled.

"Of course, but only one of you can stay overnight. Follow me guys." Tara said, they followed her to Charlie's room. Happy and Chibs both took one of her hands and looked her over for a moment before turning to let Opie have a minute. Opie leaned over her and kissed her forehead before backing up. "Ope, can you take me home?" Tara asked, he nodded and followed her out. Juice pulled the reclining chair up to the bed and sat down, taking her hand in his and resting his head next to their hands. Chibs smirked at Happy and he shook his head and they left to meet Koz at the clubhouse.

* * *

Juice woke up a few hours later. He looked up at her, she seemed so pale and vulnerable laying in the hospital bed. He leaned over and kissed her cheek, then her bandaged temple. "I'm so sorry all this happened to you CJ... I love you so much. Looking back on it, talking about when I was a prospect today, I think I always have... Your stormy grey eyes could calm any storm raging in my head, you center me, you keep me grounded... I know I sound incredibly cheesy babe, but you complete me. You're the calm to my obnoxious and I'm not the only one who sees it. After you left for your last semester a few months ago, Jax pulled me aside and all he said was that if I ever hurt you, Happy would deal with it and they'd never find my body whole. I believe him CJ, and I could never hurt you. I never will. I love you babe." He kissed her forehead again as he finished talking.

"Wow, I'm surprised I didn't fuckin throw up. That was adorable Bro." Juice heard from the doorway. He looked up and saw Happy and Koz standing there, shooting him matching smirks. He flipped them both off and stood up. He stretched before giving his woman's brother's a moment with her. "You don't have to leave the room Lover Boy, I just wanted to check on her. See with my own two eyes that she's ok." Koz said, Juice nodded and leaned against the window instead, letting Koz have the chair. Koz sat there and looked over the girl he'd come to love as a baby sister. He looked up at Happy, he got one nod from the killa and he nodded back. She really was okay, even though he wasn't there to save her this time. '_No, this time it was her trying to do the saving.' _he thought, smiling at her. He reached out and took her hand, just as her eyes started to flutter open. She groaned in pain and Juice was at her side a moment later, gripping her other hand.

"Hey baby, you're alright. The surgery went well, Koz is right here." Juice explained as she woke up more. Koz gripped her hand a smidge tighter and leaned over her.

"Hey Kiddo. Heard you tried to play hero." He said smirking down at her.

"Mhm..." She replied rolling her eyes. She looked over to Juice, "Water" She managed to get out, her throat felt like sandpaper. Juice nodded and turned to get the water, but Happy had beaten him to it and was holding it out to him. Koz helped her sit up some so she could take a drink. "That's better, thanks Loves." She said, she looked at Koz, "Fat lot of good playin hero did, yeah? Cameron still has Abel." Koz smirked at her and shook his head.

"Get some more rest Kid, and you can make those calls of yours when you get home later alright?" Kozik said, she nodded and looked to Happy. She smiled up at him and he quickly flashed her a rare smile reserved only for her and his Ma. She looked up at Juice and leaned towards him, he leaned down and lightly pecked her lips. She leaned back and tried to make herself as comfortable as possible. Koz stood up and he and Happy headed for the door. "Borrow you for a minute Bro?" Koz asked Juice. Juice nodded and squeezed Charlie's hand before following the two enforcers out the door. "I know Jax warned you while she was at school man, but if you ever hurt that girl..." Koz let the threat hang for a moment before continuing, "On the other hand, if the two of you do last, I'm okay with that. You're a good guy Juice, and a loyal brother. You're exactly what Charlie needs. Just don't fuck it up." Juice nodded and looked to Happy. Happy just smirked at him and turned to leave, Koz put his hand on Juice's shoulder. "Don't worry about him Bro, she's like our baby sister. You're going to have to respect that. If for some reason she asks for one of us instead of wanting you for something, don't hold it against her. She's been through enough shit to last any normal girl a lifetime and with the Irish involved in Abel's kidnapping, I can only imagine it getting worse." Juice nodded at Kozik's words.

"I get it Bro, I'm cool. I'll respect her relationships with both of you, as long as you respect my relationship with her. I want this to last Koz, I want her to be my Old Lady, I want Hap to put my Crow on her." Juice tried to explain, all he got from Koz was a smirk.

"I know Bro, we heard your heartwarming confession remember? Just don't fuck it up Juice." Kozik said, and with that, he patted Juice's shoulder and followed Happy to the elevator. Juice smiled to himself and went back into Charlie's room.

* * *

A few minutes later, the night nurse came in to check Charlie's vitals and make sure she wasn't in too much pain.

"When can Ah leave?" Charlie asked the petite nurse.

"Doctor Knowles will be back around 7am to check on you, as long as she likes what she sees, you'll be out of here by lunch time, as long as you have a bowel movement before then." The nurse answered.

"Uh, thanks..." Charlie acknowledged the woman with a grimace. She looked over at Juice who was trying not to laugh at her reaction. She stuck her tongue out at him and he leaned over and licked it. She pulled back and said "So mature Juicy" causing them both to laugh. She stopped almost immediately, reaching for her ribs. The nurse tisked at the couple and asked if she was alright. Charlie nodded and tried to relax into the bed. The nurse left to get Charlie her dosage of pain medication and Juice stroked Charlie's hair back away from her face. "Ah can' get comfortable Juicy" She whined, he smirked at her.

"You want me to lay with you babe?" He asked, stroking a knuckle down her cheek. She smiled and nodded. He removed his kutte and boots and as carefully as possible he climbed into the tiny bed next to her. She relaxed into his arms as he wrapped them around her. The nurse came back a moment later and shook her head at the sight of the couple in the bed. She handed Charlie her water cup and the tiny paper cup with her painkillers in it. As soon as Charlie was finished, the nurse left them. As much as neither of them wanted to sleep, they both passed out a few moments later.

* * *

**See, all filler and fluff... But that's okay cuz shit's gonna get crazy soon, I promise. As always, Thanks for the favorites, follows and reviews guys, they really do make my day! Hopefully I'll have chapter 8 finished soon, so until then my lovies :D**

**~Shell**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, this is about where I start to go a bit AU... I only say that because the Belfast trip in my story is different than on the show. Mostly, I'm trying to stay as true to the show as possible, while still giving Charlie a life and story of her own. I know that her relationship with Juice seemed to spring up and become serious very quickly, but keep in mind that they've been best friends for like 8 years, and Charlie's been in love with him for a long time, she just didn't want to/couldn't admit it. If anything about the story line or family ties is or becomes confusing, let me know and I'll try to clear it up, either in the story or in a PM/AN.**

* * *

Chapter 8:

'_Right on schedule_' Charlie thought when Tara came bustling into her room at 7 o'clock the next morning. Tara looked over Charlie's chart and nodded, mumbling to herself.

"Everything looks good Charlie, do you have different clothes to change into?" Tara said, finally looking up at the Irish woman. Charlie shook her head,

"Juice should be back soon, Ah told him what to grab." She said, Tara nodded and started writing in the chart.

"I'm going to sign off on your release and get you a script for pain killers. I'll be back in a little bit with the paperwork for you to sign." Tara said. Charlie nodded and slowly stood, putting both of her hands on her friend's shoulders.

"Stop blaming yerself Doc. It'll only make everything worse." Charlie said before pulling Tara into a hug. Charlie could feel Tara shaking, trying to fight off sobs.

"It doesn't matter weather or not I blame myself CJ, Jax blames me enough for everyone. He hasn't said one word to me, he just sits there. The cops aren't letting us back into the house until tomorrow and I don't even know if he wants me there anymore." Tara said, finally letting her walls crumble. "I just wish I was stronger, more cut out for this life. Maybe then I could make him as happy as he makes me."

"Tara, if yer lookin for a pity party partner, yer lookin at the wrong girl. Ah don' do pity parties. Ah will tell yeh tha' no matter what Jax says right now, yeh need to remember tha he loves yeh and he wants yeh here. He wouldn't have fought his Ma so hard ta keep yeh here otherwise, Love. Just try to push through this rough patch. Ah'm doin mah best ta gather as much information as Ah can, but Ah can't do anythin here." Charlie said, keeping the Doctor in an embrace. Tara nodded again.

"You're right Charlie. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been crying like that... I just..." Tara let her thought float away and Charlie nodded.

"Ah understand completely Love. Sometimes yeh need ta cry, we all do. Everythin' will work out, Ah promise." Charlie said, finally pulling away from Tara. Tara wiped the tears from her face and picked the chart back up. She shot Charlie a smile before leaving the room. Charlie settled herself back into the bed and shook her head at the closed door. '_Tha' girl's got some real shite to work through_' She thought.

* * *

Two hours later, Charlie was sitting on her bed at Chibs' place, scrolling through the contacts in her phone and trying to count out the time difference in her head. She found the number she was looking for and opened a text message to it.

_Hey Lovie, I need a direct line ta yer Ma, it's urgent. Delete this after yer done._

A few minutes later she had the number she was looking for, along with wishes for safety. Charlie got up as quickly as possible, looking for the Son who was supposed to be on 'Charlie Duty'. She found him, sitting at the kitchen table, a beer in one hand and a smoke in the other.

"Hey there Hap, Ah need ta talk ta Clay an Jax as soon as possible. It's urgent." She said, sliding into the chair across the table from the stoic killer. He looked her over and raised an eyebrow when he made eye contact.

"You and Juice... That shit serious?" He asked, not breaking eye contact.

"Ah think so, why? Did he say somethin while Ah was out?" Charlie asked, '_maybe going for it was a bad idea'_ She thought. He shook his head.

"Nah, just wonderin why the idiot spent the night in your hospital room."

"Jaysus Happy. He's mah boyfriend... fer now. Ah don' know what tha' means for the future, if there even is one. Ah'd love fer there to be a future with Juice, Happy. Ah... Ah love him." She confessed, looking away.

"You willin to wait out the stint in county we got comin up?" At this question, Charlie's head snapped back towards Happy.

"Of course Ah am Happy. Ah wouldn't leave him because he got put away tryin to protect the Queen." She snapped, he nodded once.

"He wants you to take his Crow." Charlie stared at Happy as if he'd just proclaimed his love for all things pink and fluffy.

"Wow... it's only been a few weeks..." Charlie said, trying to think.

"You're not ready? You two have been best friends for years CJ. You've always wanted more, now he's finally opened his eyes and he wants to keep you. I understand that you're SAMCRO Family, but with everyone going inside soon, we're gonna have a lot of out of town members comin through to help Ope. The only way to keep you protected from wandering eyes and prying hands is the Crow." Charlie nodded at this information, she knew he was right, she understood the gravity of the situation, but she also understood the prison clause. If she had Juice's Crow, the situation would be in her control. If she didn't, it would be on the out of town Sons to keep their hands to themselves concerning her, and she knew that wasn't likely to happen. Happy stood up, taking her hand and helping her up too. "I didn't tell you that shit to scare you Kiddo. I don't know when he's gonna talk to you about it, but he mentioned it to Koz last night." Charlie nodded and wrapped her arms around Happy's waist.

"Thanks Hap. Ah'm not scared, it's just a lot ta think about." She said, he nodded before dropping a kiss on her head.

"You should put some shoes on if you want me to take you to the clubhouse. Gonna have to take your car, you're not supposed to ride right now." She nodded in thanks before slipping her skate shoes on and following Happy out the front door and to the her waiting car.

* * *

When they pulled up to the clubhouse, it was quiet. Charlie had never seen them this somber before. She went straight to Juice and wrapped her arms around his neck being careful not to hit him with her cast. He wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled at her.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" He asked, she nodded and looked around the group of men.

"Yeah, Ah just go some information Ah need ta share with Clay an Jax. Where are they?" She asked, noticing their absences.

"Jackie-Boy's in a drunken coma in his dorm an Clay's on tha phone in chapel." Chibs told her. She nodded her thanks to her godfather before heading up the hallway to Jax's dorm. She banged on the door as hard as she could for as long as it took for him to answer. He looked livid.

"What. The. Fuck. Charlotte." He said, turning his back to her, heading back to his bed.

"This pity party ends here Jackson." She said, stepping into the room. She could feel Opie and Juice behind her. He whipped back around to face her and realized he was out numbered.

"Pity party? Fuck you CJ. Abel's GONE!" He screamed, stepping back towards her.

"NO FOCKIN SHITE YEH NINNY!" She screamed right back, he took another step towards her, she could practically feel Opie and Juice tense up. She reached up and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him roughly as she could with her cast. "Now what're yeh gonna fockin do about it?" She asked, looking him dead in the eye.

"What CAN I do about it? Cameron's probably back in Belfast by now." Jax said, slumping in her grasp. She smirked at the stupidity of most of the men around her.

"Jaysus Chirst Jackie, who the fock am I?" She asked, putting a hand on his cheek, making him look at her again.

"My cousin, CJ, you're my cousin." He answered, everyone was quiet for a moment as Charlie gave Jax a 'what else' look. "You're my cousin who grew up in Belfast, in the fucking IRA!" Jax finally connected what CJ meant. She giggled at him when he threw his arms around her. "Please tell me you have something darlin?" He asked, pulling away from her. Sensing that all was well, Opie and Juice quietly left the two Tellers alone, closing the door behind them.

"Ah have Maureen Ashby's private number. Ah couldn't find a spare pre-pay around Chibs' place so Ah had Happy bring me here." She said, turning towards the door. "We should go make this call in Chapel with Clay." He nodded and followed her through the clubhouse. Jax knocked on the Chapel doors before opening them and shutting himself and Charlie inside with Clay. Clay looked like Charlie felt, and the headache Jax was developing wasn't helping anyone. Charlie repeated to Clay what she'd just told Jax.

"Do yeh wanna make the call or should Ah do it?" She asked him.

"Don't bother. I just got off with Jimmy. Abel and Cameron aren't in Belfast." Clay said, tossing his pre-pay onto the table between the two cousins.

"Tha could be bullshite Clay. Ah'm sorry, but Ah don't trust me father's word at all. Ah'd rather call Mo, tha way we know for sure." Charlie tried arguing, but Clay was already standing.

"You are not a patched member of this Club little girl, no matter how much you want to be. If I want your help I'll ask for it, otherwise, get your ass back home and back in bed where you belong. Heal your ribs." Clay demanded, heading for the Chapel doors. "Jax, since you're up, we've got some shit to handle." He said. Jax looked at Charlie, she looked pissed, but Jax could see past that.

"He's just frustrated CJ, I'm sorry he yelled at you like that." Jax said. Charlie shook her head and opened the door again, walking out into the clubhouse where everyone was waiting.

"No Jax, he's right. Ah'm no a patched member of this Club. Ah should keep mah shite to meself until Ah'm asked." She said, she was shaking with rage. She felt Happy and Kozik come up behind her and she calmed, slightly. "Ah'm goin back home. Ah'll do wha Ah think Ah should from there. Once yeh realize tha Jimmy O'Phaelan is a lyin sack of shite, come and talk to me." She said. She quickly hugged Juice before allowing Happy lead her from the clubhouse, with Kozik behind them. The three of them piled into her car and went back to Chibs' place.

* * *

She left the two Sons in the kitchen with a fresh pot of coffee brewing and a fresh beer each in front of them and locked herself in her room with her laptop and cell phone. She tried working on her school work, she only had a couple of assignments left before she was completely finished, but the longer she sat there, the more restless she became. Two hours and one final paper later, Kozik barged into her room with a sandwich and some chips on a plate in one hand and a bottle of Pepsi in the other.

"You need to eat Kiddo, it's almost time to take your meds. You give in and call her yet?" He said, sitting next to her. She shook her head, smiling and gratefully took the offered food. She sat there eating and thinking while Koz just stared at her. "You wanna talk about it?" He finally asked her. She dropped the half eaten sandwich on the plate and sighed.

"Clay's right. Ah'm no a member of the club..."

"But you do so much for all of us that it shouldn't matter. He shouldn't have talked to you like that." Koz interrupted her. She smiled at him.

"No Love, Ah momentarily forgot me place here. Ah'm family, Ah'm not a member. Ah should have offered the information and left it at that. Ah shouldn't have argued with him when he didn't want it." She said, looking back to her laptop. Koz stood up, shaking his head.

"As true as that might be Charlie, you were also raised IRA... which means you don't always have to take orders from the Club. I'm not saying that you should call Jimmy yourself, but you shouldn't refrain from doing what's right just because Clay told you not to." He said turning to leave. He reached her bedroom door and turned back to look at her and left the room with a smile on his face, seeing that she had her phone in her hand. When he got back to the living room, Happy looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "She's making the call." Was all he said before sitting back down to wait.

Charlie sat there staring at her phone, her food forgotten. Shaking her head she finally called the one person she knew for a fact would never lie to her about anything.

"Hello?"

"Auntie Mo? It's Charlie..."

"Well Darlin, it's good ta hear from yeh, is everythin okay? Yeh never call me directly Lovie."

"Ah'm gonna ask yeh somethin Mo, and Ah need yeh to be as honest as possible. Ah swear to God Mo, it's life or death."

"Alrigh Lovie, what's goin on?"

"Have yeh seen Cammy Hayes recently?"

"Why would yeh ask me about him Love? Ah though the Charmin boys were keepin yeh out of Club business..."

"They are. This is Family shite Mo. Cammy killed the prospect and took Jackson's infant son because he had some bullshite notions about who killed Eddy. Fockin ATF gash screwin with people's lives again."

"Jaysus Charlotte. Ah didn' know any of tha... Cammy called me, jus this mornin."

"And the baby?" Charlie held her breath, while there was a lengthy pause on the other end.

"The baby's fine Charlie. Nothin for yeh to worry yerself over."

"Tha's fockin bullshite Maureen! Nothin better happen ta tha baby, or Ah'll fockin kill anyone Ah have to ta get him back!" Charlie had stood up and was pacing her room at this point.

"Now CJ, yer no IRA anymore. Yeh wanted ta be a Club girl and tha's what yeh are. If yer boys need yer help so bad, why don't they call me?"

"Ah swear to God Mo! It's no like yeh have to choose between tha Club and tha IRA, yehr involved with both! They haven called because Clay still believes Jimmy an yeh know it! " Charlie was yelling now.

"Well, when they decide it's time ta listen ta reason, have them call me." And with that, the line was dead. Charlie screamed and threw the half eaten plate of food against the now open bedroom door.

"Wooooah there Kiddo... I take it your call didn't go well?" Koz asked from the doorway. Happy was behind him, staring at her.

"Ah can't focking believe that stupid gash! Ah love her, she'll always be family ta me, but this has gone too fockin far! Ah'm goin to Belfast, Ah don' care if Clay doesn't believe me and Ah don' fockin care if anyone comes with me! Ah can' just fockin sit here while she waits for Jackson to call her because Ah'm not a focking member! Ah'm so fockin sick of hearin tha Ah can' fockin help because Ah'm no a man or have a kutte! Ah was trained to torture people long before yeh two taught me ta shoot ya know!" Charlie collapsed at this point, too exhausted to keep herself upright any longer. She sat there, staring up at Koz and Happy, just waiting for one of them to tell her 'No' and lock her in her room to wait for Juice and Chibs... But they didn't. Koz smiled at her and Happy smirked.

"Sac's wake is tomorrow night. You have to be there. After that, you do what you need to do Kiddo. I may not agree with this, but I also know I can't stop you. This is your family and you're going to do everything you need to do to protect them." Happy said, helping her up off the floor. She smiled up at him and looked over to Koz.

"I agree with everything Happy said. Even if that means you're going to be traveling half way across the world on what will most likely be a suicide mission." Koz said hugging the small woman. She beamed at both of them and looked down at the mess she had made.

"Why don' Ah clean this shite up and make us some proper supper, yeah?" She said. They nodded and left her alone. She sighed again and ran her hand through her tangled mahogany curls. _'Good goin Charlie-Girl... yeh've found the wee one, now how are yeh gonna get him back?'_ She thought to herself while she cleaned up the chips and sandwich from the floor.

The whole time she cooked dinner, she ran different scenarios through in her head. When she finally had a plan developed, she sat at the table in front of Happy with Koz to her left.

"Well, Kiddo, you think of something yet?" Kozik asked her, finishing off his beer. She nodded, smiling.

"Ah think so. Chibs hasn' let me touch the secret account me Ma left me since Ah got here. Ah'm gonna have ta dip into it fer this. Ah'm gonna fly into Dublin and head to Belfast with Trinny. She's on holiday there now. Ah won' take much, jus a carry on and me backpack probably... Juice and Chibs are gonna kill me." She shook her head in amusement.

"Most definitely. But it's not like they could stop you, even if they knew." Kozik said, as the front door opened.

"Ah love comin home to a ready supper." Chibs said, kissing CJ on the cheek before grabbing a beer and settling on the open chair to Charlie's right. She smiled at him before getting up and checking the chicken in the oven.

"Can one of yeh help me pull this out?" Charlie asked, motioning to her cast covered left forearm. Happy got up and pulled the chicken from the oven. She dished up four plates and served the guys, bringing Koz and Hap new beers before settling in with her own plate and water bottle. The four of them ate in peace, before Charlie took her pills and went to bed. She fell into a fitful rest and tossed and turned before jerking awake. She didn't realize she was screaming until Kozik put his hand over her mouth.

"Fock me." She said, breathing heavily, her casted hand resting on her chest, the other clutching Kozik's arm.

"You wanna talk about it, or you just want me to lay with you?" Koz said, helping her lean back into her pillows. She shrugged and pulled on his arm. He made himself comfortable next to her, lacing his fingers with her's and laying their hands between them.

"Ah just kept seein Kip's eyes... everywhere... then Jimmy was there, tellin me Ah couldn' save Abel because Ah'm not good enough... Ah'm not strong enough Koz. Ah jus had surgery fer Christ's sakes! Ah can' go on a solo suicide mission in Belfast!" She was starting to breathe heavily again. Kozik sat up and brushed the hair from her face before resting his hand against her cheek.

"Charlie, you are the strongest woman I know. If you don't feel like you're strong enough to go alone, don't go. Or take someone with you. Your gut instincts are always right Kiddo, and if this feels wrong, it probably is." He said.

"That's just it though... this dream didn' make me feel like Ah couldn' do it, or make me feel like it was wrong. Ah know it's the right thing ta do, Ah'm goin ta do it, Ah just don' think Ah should do it alone. Ah know if Ah explain everything to Trinny when Ah get there, she'll wan ta help, but tha would jus cause a fight between her an Mo... Ah don' know what ta do." She sighed and looked out the open window, the full moon was clearly visible.

"Well, Trinity's an adult too now Kiddo. If she wants to help you and she has the means to do so, I say let her. If it causes too much shit with her mom, bring her home with you." Koz said, chuckling to himself.

"Ah can' bring her here. She wouldn' be welcome here." Charlie said vaguely.

"Why not? She's pretty right? She knows how the Club works, knows to keep her mouth shut. I don't see a problem." Koz said, laying back down.

"Yeh also don' know even a quarter of the shite tha Ah do abou the Teller family..." Charlie said.

"I thought you said Trinity was Mo Ashby's daughter?" Koz asked.

"She is. Ah can' say anymore Koz, yeh know better than ta ask abou Belfast anyways." Charlie said, rolling her eyes. This was a dangerous topic and Charlie had to mentally smack herself. _'Ah should have jus kept ma big mouth shut.'_ She thought, shaking her head. Koz just smiled and they made themselves as comfortable as possible in Charlie's full size bed. Eventually, they both fell back to sleep.

* * *

**Thanks for reading everybody! I'm having a lot of fun with this story. I do apologize for my updates being kind of spazy, I have a full time job and a three year old son so I don't have much 'me' time, but I write when I can and update as quickly as possible. Again, if you're confused about anything, let me know, and the next few chapters will be kind of AU... Thanks again!**

**~Shell**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

The next morning, Charlie was standing over a fresh pot of coffee when her phone rang.

"'Lo?" she answered

"Hey lovie, yeh get ahold of Ma ok?" It was Trinity.

"Yeh, a fat lot of good it did me too."

"Wha's tha supposed to mean?"

"She's jus bein herself. Ah can' fault her. Ah'm miffed, yeah, bu if she's no gonna talk to me, Ah'm jus gonna have ta come and find out for meself."

"Yer comin back?!"

"Ah don' have a choice at this point Love." Charlie turned to the kitchen doorway where Chibs had just come in the room. She had heard him coming up the hallway. "Ah have ta go, Ah'll call yeh later." She hung up without waiting for a response. "Mornin, coffee?" She offered him her mug. He shook his head and sat at the table to put his boots on.

"Nah, Clay called. LaRoy called, he got a lead on Abel." He said before standing up. "Don' leave the house withou an escort, Jimmy may still be in town." He said, kissing the top of her head before heading out the door. She shook her head and plopped down on one of the dining chairs and dropping her head into her hands. Koz came in a few minutes later and ruffled her hair before making himself some coffee.

"We gotta stay here today Kiddo. Everyone else is following LaRoy's lead and nobody wants you unprotected." He said. She nodded and stood back up.

"Can yeh wrap me arm? Ah wanna take a shower..." She mummbled, he laughed at her and nodded.

* * *

The rest of the day passed pretty quietly and before she knew it, Charlie was dressing for Kip's wake. She pulled on a long flowy black skirt and a black button down blouse with a small blue skull over her heart. She pulled her hair back with a large clip, leaving a few strands on each side in the front to frame her heart shaped face. She decided to forgo her normal light makeup, it'd be too difficult with the cast anyways and slipped her black and blue DC's on before grabbing her messenger bag and heading to the living room to wait with Koz for Juice and Chibs. Her phone rang from the bottom of her bag as she sank down into the overly plush leather couch. She sighed and pulled it out.

"Hullo?"

"Hey baby. I just wanted to check up on you. Make sure everything's okay with you. You've had a pretty rough few weeks."  
"Ah'm fine Gemma. Ah'm more worried about you ta be honest."

"Oh baby, you know me. I'll be alright. Just take care of our boys okay?"  
"Ah'll do me best Mother. Yeh know, Hale told me tha there were differences between ma testimony abou the safe house and Stahl's. He says tha the ATF really needs yer testimony before they can make any charges stick on anyone."

"Well that's news to me Darlin. As far as I know, I have a $10, 000 price on my head."

"Well, jus lay low till we figure this shite out. Ah love yeh."  
"Love you too baby. Try to get some rest okay? Heal quickly. Abel needs his Auntie to look after him right now since I'm not there." Charlie nodded before realizing that Gemma couldn't see her, then she shook her head, realizing that Gemma didn't know about Abel.

"Ah will Gemma. Ah'll do me best ta take care of him." She choked out.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothin, just this thing fer the prospect tonight has me thinkin about that day."

"Oh sweetheart, don't dwell on it. He was a good man and he died protecting you, Tara and Abel."

"Ah know. The boys just pulled in Gemma, Ah have ta go. Ah love you."

"I love you too baby." Charlie hung up and flung her phone back into her bag. Koz stood up and helped her up as Juice and Chibs came in.

"When were yeh gonna tell me tha Gemma doesn' know about Abel? Did it no occur ta any of yeh tha she might call me?!" Charlie asked them.

"I'm sorry Baby, I didn't really think about it. You didn't tell her did you?" Juice said, stepping closer to her. She shook her head and smirked at the men around her.

"No Ah didn', but the point is Ah could have. This Abel shite isn't just club business, Ah need ta know what yeh do, jus like yeh need ta know what Ah do. Just in case Gemma calls me again, or even if mah contacts call me." She said. Chibs and Koz nodded their understanding and Juice smiled at her and stepped even closer, wrapping his arms around her waist carefully. Charlie rested her arms on top of his and layed her head on his chest.

"As cute as you two think you are, we need to go or we'll be late." Koz said, heading out the door. Charlie smiled up at Juice and pecked him sweetly. He smiled down at her and pulled her out the door by her good hand. He led her to her car and took her keys from her.

"I might be going in the cage with you because you can't ride right now, but I'm not riding bitch in said cage." He said, opening the passenger door for her. She shook her head in amusement and they headed out, following Chibs and Koz to the funeral home in the middle of town.

* * *

Juice parallel parked the car at the end of the row of SAMCRO bikes and they headed towards the group of patches near the door. Charlie shoved her way through the crowded room of members, family, crow eaters and hang arounds behind Juice. She waited outside the door to the viewing room and watched as Juice, Happy, Bobby, Opie and Chibs stood in front of Kip's casket. Chibs stepped forward, patted the fully patched kutte laying across the top of the casket and turned around. He waved her in and she slowly made her way to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head under his chin as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He squeezed her a bit before letting her go, she stepped around him and up to the casket, resting her casted hand on the kutte and staring into his ARMY picture. She allowed a few tears to fall before wiping her face and stepping away. She hugged Opie and Bobby before turning to Happy, Chibs and Juice. All at once, the three of them enveloped her in their arms. Happy pulled away first, then Chibs, leaving Juice and Charlie embraced in one another. "Jax is here Babe, we need to let him have the room." Juice whispered. She nodded and let him pull her from the room. Tara, Jax, Lyla and Clay were waiting for them to leave the room. Charlie tightly hugged Tara, then Lyla before ignoring Clay completely and coming back to Jax. She put her hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes.

"Yeh need ta stop wallowing Jackie. These men around yeh, they're lookin ta yeh fer guidance right now. Be strong Lovie. Ah'll see yeh tomorrow, yeah?" She said, he nodded and pulled her into a tight embrace before letting her go and heading into the room with Tara. Charlie followed Juice and Happy outside and accepted the lit cigarette Happy offered her with a forced smile. She mingled as much as she could, never letting go of Juice's hand, and never letting Happy leave her line of sight. Eventually, Charlie and Juice made their way back to SAMCRO. Charlie was walking, surrounded by all her Sons, holding Juice's hand on one side, Happy's on the other and Koz behind her. Suddenly, there was gunfire, and Charlie found herself on the ground with Koz leaned over her back, carefully avoiding resting any weight on her ribs, with Happy and Juice kneeled next to them, firing back at the van. People all around them were screaming for help and yelling. Chaos ensued as Jax jumped on the shooter who had fallen out of the van and started smashing his face into the asphalt. Everyone was stunned for a moment before Clay and Opie ran over to pull Jax off. Happy went to help and Juice and Koz helped Charlie up. Juice started patting Charlie down, checking for any new damage to her ribs. Koz saw this and called Tara over.

"Ah'm fine Tara, Koz did good. Check on Chucky's arm yeah?" Charlie said, waving the doctor away. "Ah just wanna go home now." She said, looking up at Juice and Koz.

"Yeah, okay Baby. You wanna go to Chibs' with Koz or come to the Clubhouse with me?" Juice asked lacing his fingers with hers and heading towards Clay.

"Ah don' care Juice, Ah jus wanna take mah pills an go ta bed." Charlie shrugged. Juice nodded as he tapped on Clay's shoulder.

"Hey, I know shit just got crazy, but she really needs to get out of here." Juice said, motioning towards Charlie.

"Of course, take Ope's Old Lady with ya, take em to the Clubhouse for tonight. Koz, you stay here, Juice can handle the two Old Ladies for now." Clay said, turning his attention back to Jax. Juice nodded at Opie, who nodded back and kissed Lyla goodnight. Lyla and Charlie wrapped their arms around each other and followed Juice to the car. Once they got to the Clubhouse, Charlie went around the bar and grabbed a water for herself and a beer each for Juice and Lyla. She dug her pills out of her bag and took them, downing the whole water bottle. She kissed Lyla's cheek and headed back towards Juice's room. Juice led Lyla to Opie's room and followed Charlie into his own. Juice stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed, waiting on Charlie, who had gone into the bathroom. She reappeared in one of Juice's reaper shirts and her black and blue lacy boy shorts panties and climbed into bed next to him. She kissed him deeply before resting her casted arm across his chest and her head over his heart. He wrapped his arm around her, resting his hand on her scantily clad hip, rubbing his thumb in soothing circles over her hip bone. Her breathing deepened quickly and he smiled.

"I love you Charlie." He whispered into the dark silence.

* * *

Charlie's Second Night In Charming:

"_It's late, you should be asleep. Aren't you exhausted? You've been travelin all day Darlin." Jax asked her, sitting next to her on the AC unit on the roof of the clubhouse. She had found the latch door and just needed a few minutes to think, something she hadn't really done since leaving Belfast over 48 hours ago._

"_Ah am exhausted, bu every time Ah close me eyes, Ah see me Da's face before Ah blacked out." She explained. She knew what Maureen meant about a mother's lies now, she knew as soon as she saw Jax earlier. She needed to know how much he knew so that she didn't say something that would lead him to his sister. She didn't need that kind of danger here. "Yeh know, Ah don' remember much of Uncle John, he stopped comin ta Belfast when Ah was young. Yeh look just like him though." She finally said. Jax nodded and lit a cigarette before offering it to her and pulling another out._

"_Yeah, I get that a lot. I feel the same way about your mom, and your looks. Your hair is darker than hers was though." Charlie nodded at that. "Happy and Kozik have been searching for you for almost an hour, you should probably get back. I don't think I've ever seen either of them act this way about a woman. When it comes to women, they usually just fuck em and leave em, ya know?"_

"_Ah got that vibe from em, yeah... Ah dunno why they took to me the way they did, but Ah'm glad they did. They make me feel safe, and tha's definitely somethin Ah need right now." Jax nodded at her response._

"_So how'd you like growin up IRA?" He asked, she sighed and nodded._

"_Technically Ah'm IRA, but Ah've always been more of a Club girl. Jimmy would leave me with McGee's Old Lady a lot when he'd hafta go away. The only real loyalty Ah've had is to McGee... Or really, the Club, not just the man... They've taken care of me when Jimmy wouldn'... Ah can't prove it Jax, but Ah know in me heart tha Jimmy killed me Ma." Jax shook his head at that._

"_Makin accusations like that, you need proof Darlin." Was all he responded with. She sighed again and nodded._

"_Tha's why Ah never said anythin. It happened almost six years ago. Auntie Mo, tha's Maureen Ashby, McGee's Old Lady... She feels tha same way and when Ah voiced me opinion of me Da to her, she told me tha Ma's disappearance was sketchy at best and was IRA marked... But that there's nothin anyone could do abou it." They both fell silent for a while after that. Jax was thinking about the Aunt he barely remembered and how she left Charming with JT and never came back. Charlie was thinking about how to bring Maureen back up, to see how much Jax knew about what, or who rather, was in Belfast._

"_So, you grew up IRA but you were mostly a Club kid huh?" Jax clarified, Charlie nodded._

"_Aye, Ah was the eldest of the Club kids in Belfast. Me, mah best friend, who's Mo's daughter, Trinity, and a few others... When Jimmy would leave Fiona home, Trinity and Ah would care for Kerrianne. She's who Ah'm most worried abou at the moment. She's so timid, she abou shite herself when Trinity and Ah tried teachin her self defense last summer... But Ah remember promisin Chibs, when Ah was a wee lass, tha Ah'd always look after her, and Ah have. The only person Ah've ever killed was fer tha girl." Charlie said. Jax looked at Charlie, stunned by this revelation._

"_Who'd you kill?" He finally asked._

"_Some IRA soldier piece of shite. Couldn't have been older than 18, rubbin up on her at the Clubhouse one day. McGee told him off, we didn' think much of it after tha. A few weeks later, Trinity and Ah had Kerri at the cinema and he ambushed her in the loo. Ah went in because she'd been gone too long, found him with her against the wall. Ah pulled me piece and shot. Cops never charged me, McGee was proud tha Ah stuck up fer her like tha... but Jimmy... not so much." She let the thought trail away before turning to Jax and bluntly asking, "Do yeh know much abou the time yer Da spent in Belfast with us?"_

"_No, Ma never talks about it, hurts too much. So much was happening here around that time. Your mom was going crazy and nobody knew why, then she up and bolted with JT one day... Thomas was sick all the time and JT would just come in and out like nothing was wrong... and I was just stuck in the middle... I spent more time with Opie up at Piney's cabin than I did at home. And we were 13 at the time..." Jax looked over at his baby cousin and could still see the fear etched into her features. "Come on kiddo, Chibs wants you to stay at his place for now. I'm sure you can talk Happy and Koz into going with you too." He said standing up and offering her a hand. He pulled her up and into a brotherly embrace. "You're safe here Kiddo, you're my blood, and I will do everything in my power to always protect you." She nodded against his chest and kissed his cheek when they pulled apart. She followed him back down the ladder and into the Clubhouse where Chibs, Happy and Koz were waiting._

"_Where yeh been lass? Yeh had both enforcers over here goin crazy." Chibs asked, smiling at his goddaughter. She giggled and hugged him for what seemed like the millionth time that day._

"_Ah jus needed a moment alone, Uncle. Jax found me on the roof." She said, looking up at Happy and Koz._

"_Got enforcers going crazy? So, like mother, like daughter then?" Charlie whipped around to see who had said that and came face to face with striking blue eyes and a mop of crazy black curls. She looked up at him and frowned._

"_Ah'm sorry, Ah don' think we were introduced earlier?" She said, somewhat timidly, she'd never admit it out loud, but the cold look in the deep blue eyes of this man terrified her more than Jimmy ever did, and she knew if she got on his bad side that her time in Charming wouldn't be as pleasant as she'd hoped._

"_Tig. SAMCRO Sargent. You stickin around or you gonna run like Mommy did when things get a little crazy?" He said, looking her up and down._

"_Hey now, Charlie's a good girl Tig, Ah won' say she's not like her Ma, but the point is she's NOT her Ma. Ah'm gonna take her home, she probably hasn't slept in days." Chibs said, leading her away from Tig and to his bike outside, followed by Happy and Kozik._

_Once they got to Chibs' small two bedroom house, they all sat around the living room. Charlie looked like she wanted to say something, but didn't want to burden her Uncle with news that could hurt his position in the Club that they all loved. Finally, she decided that an open, honest policy was something she needed with her Godfather if she was going to be living with him, so she asked him to show her to her room._

"_Chibs? Ah need ta tell yeh somethin." She said, sitting on the double bed in the corner of the room._

"_What's tha lass?" He asked, leaning against the dresser across from her._

"_Ah can't keep it ta meself anymore, but Ah don't know who to trust just yet besides yeh. Ah want ta be as honest as possible with yeh, no matter what... Maureen said some things before Ah left about a mother's guilt about lies and Ah didn't understand until Ah got ta Charmin yesterday and saw Jax. Chibs... Ah think Uncle John was Trinity's Da..." She mumbled. Chibs sighed and ran a hand through his slicked back hair._

"_Right now, Love, it doesn't matter. Why JT spent so much time in Belfast, why yer Ma went with him, and ultimately, why yer here now will all be brought ta light eventually. Right now, Ah want yeh ta focus on settling in and tryin ta sleep. Don't tell anyone else what yeh jus told me, alright? When tha time comes, Ah'll help yeh discover tha truth and help yeh with anythin yeh need, but that time is not now CJ." Chibs said, he crossed the room and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "Kozik said yeh sleep better with someone next ta ya, yeh wan me ta send one of em in here?" He asked, taking a step back. She shook her head._

"_No, Ah need ta at least try ta sleep on me own. They won' always be in town." She said, pulling her bag into her lap and pulling out a set of pajamas. Chibs nodded and left the room._

"_Yeh can both stay here, she says she wants ta try ta sleep on her own, bu Ah'm almost positive she'll wake up. Tha's how she's always dealt with shite. She acts strong all day long, but as soon as she falls asleep, she has ta face what's goin on." Chibs explained to his brothers. They nodded and kicked their boots off as Chibs headed back up the hall to his own room._

* * *

Charlie woke up sweating. 'M_ore memory dreams, great._' she thought to herself, before removing Juice's arm from her waist and standing up. She quickly showered and dressed before heading to the kitchen and starting a pot of coffee. Chibs came in not too long after her and kissed the top of her head.

"Morning Uncle," She said, smiling at him.

"What're yeh tryin ta hide lass? Yeh only call me 'Uncle' when yeh want somethin or yer hidin somethin." Chibs said, taking the mug she passed him and plopping down at the table.

"Can we go ta yer room? Ah need ta talk ta yeh." She said, he nodded and led her back to his room. She plopped down in the chair in the corner as he shut the door and sat on his unmade bed. He looked to her to start talking. "Do yeh remember tha conversation we had the night Ah moved into yer house?" She asked, looking up from her coffee.

"Tha one abou Trinity?" He asked, frowning at the conversation topic. He sighed when Charlie nodded and shook his head. "Love, Ah told yeh not ta worry abou tha shite."

"But Chibs, Ah know in me gut tha Abel's in Belfast! Ah called Maureen yesterday and she basically confirmed it! Clay's no gonna accept this information from me, he still trusts Jimmy's word..." Charlie tried explaining, but stopped when she saw the look Chibs was giving her.

"Ah don' see what yeh wan me ta do abou tha Love, Ah can' jus go with yeh ta Belfast on a hunch and the words of a drunk Old Lady." Chibs answered, Charlie glared up at him.

"Fine, Ah'll go meself then! Ah'll fly into Derry, meet Trinity in Newtownabbey where she's on holiday, head ta Belfast and stop in and check on Kerri then find Abel meself. By tha time Clay pulls his head out of Jimmy's arse, Ah'll be in the Belfast Clubhouse, caring fer Abel and waitin on yeh. Sounds good, yeah?" Charlie asked, jumping up from the chair and looking down at Chibs.

"Charlotte Jane Teller, yeh step one foot out of Charming and Ah'll have yer head. Ah may no be yer Da and Ah'm damn sure no yer Old Man, but Ah do love yeh and Ah will no have yeh gallivantin across tha globe on a fockin suicide mission fer a gut feeling and the ramblings of a drunk Old Lady!" Chibs was now on his feet, staring down the young girl in front of him. "Ah love yeh Charlie-Girl, but Ah do not agree with this." He said, turning to leave the room, only to be blocked by Juice, Kozik and Happy. Juice looked livid, but both Kozik and Happy were stoic. "By the looks on yer faces, Ah assume she's talked ta yeh abou this shite?" Chibs asked Happy and Kozik, receiving tight nods from each of them.

"What the hell Charlie?" Juice asked. "Were you really gonna go, by yourself, to a place you've basically been excommunicated from? For what?"

"Fer what? FER WHAT?! Juice... Ah try my damnedest ta not overstep me boundaries here when it comes ta Club business, but this is family shite too. Ah have intel and resources tha we could use ta bring Abel home RIGHT NOW, but all anyone's worried about is ME! 'Charlie doesn't know anythin because she's a girl.' 'Charlie can't do anythin because she's hurt.' Bloody fockin HELL, Ah'm so fockin sick of hearin this shite. Ah can't fockin do this right now." She was almost crying at this point. She shoved her way through the four men crowded around the door and ran back to Juice's room, slamming and locking the door behind her.

"Koz, we've got shite ta handle, don't let her leave the Clubhouse." Chibs said, receiving a silent nod from the Tacoma SAA. Once Juice and Chibs left the room, Happy looked over at his closest brother.

"She's gonna leave, probably try to go today. You're the only one here right now who will back her up and doesn't have charges pending." Happy said before turning to leave.

"So do I stop her, or go with her?" Koz asked him. Happy turned back to him, smirking and said,

"When have either of us ever been able to tell that girl 'No'? You keep her safe Brother, that's all we can do when it comes to that one." And with that, Happy left the room, following Chibs and Juice to the row of bikes. Kozik nodded to himself before heading back to Charlie's room and knocking on the door.

* * *

Outside, Chibs and Juice sat on their bikes, waiting for Happy to come out.

"What the hell was that? How do I even handle something like that Chibs?" Juice asked.

"It's got nothin ta do with yeh Juicy-Boy. Tha girl's go a list of demons a mile long, and her wantin ta go do this has nothin ta do with her love or devotion to yeh. Tha girl loves yeh, always has lad." Chibs said, shaking his head.

"I want her to take my Crow... before we go inside." Juice said suddenly, looking over at the older man. Chibs just nodded.

"Ah figured it was comin, yeh two've been denyin yer love fer too long fer this relationship ta go slow. Do it Juicy-Boy, it'll make yeh both happy." Was all he said.

"But, how do I know she's as serious as I am? She hasn't even hinted at any of the shit I just heard in there... and Hap and Koz probably knew everything... Like they always do." Juice said doubtfully.

"Damn it boyo, those two will probably always know more about what goes on in her head than either of us will. The three of em all think alike. Them and Tig... it's scary sometimes Brother... Don't think too much on it. She's serious about yeh Juicy, Ah promise yeh tha." Chibs said, clapping Juice on the shoulder. Juice just nodded, and at the sight of Happy, they strapped their helmets on and kicked their bikes to life.

* * *

**So... Charlie's killed before... wonder if she's gonna have to kill again ;x... Juice really needs to buckle down and talk to Charlie about the Crow it seems... The big question is, will she really take off to Belfast with a broken wrist, messed up ribs and no backup? Will Koz listen to Happy?**

**I know, but you don't, so check back soon to find out :D**

**Thanks for reading guys, I love it when I see how many faves/follows my story has, it's awesome!**

**Special Thank You to Rozale, your reviews are much appreciated!  
**

**~Shell**


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